Unsaid Promises
by Jezebel Montgomery
Summary: Set before Flirting With Consequence. Fort Steadfast is placing its knights and soldiers in the front lines and despite their best efforts, things are remaining unsaid and hidden behind secret smiles and whispered words. KD
1. Chapter 1

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The wind whipped the dead leaves that lay on the ground into a frenzy, stirring them to swirl around the knight's feet as they stood on the parapet of the fort, leaning over the wall. Lost in thought, the knight did not notice that the torches behind her back were flaring to life, lighting the way for the night watch.

The stillness of the night was almost eerie, not even the wind on the top levels of fort stirred. Dying off as suddenly as it had come, leaving the flags of Steadfast limp in its wake. The coldness sunk into her bones, reminding her that autumn was nearly ending and that snow would soon mingle with the leaves on the ground. The thought of death and frost made her shiver.

Sighing, Keladry of Mindelan straightened her back and shifted her stance. She noted without looking that the soldiers on duty had arranged themselves evenly along the northern wall, giving her the space her posture demanded. The thoughts that tumbled through her head fought for control- the rational trying to override the fear and worry.

The last rays of the sun had sunk below the horizon hours ago but the lone knight continued to gaze west.

To the river.

To Scanra.

To the enemy.

Tomorrow she would lead her men to danger. Death was a possibility. Glory was not impossible, but nonetheless unpredictable. Danger was the only surety she could offer to those under her command. Strangers who may or may not trust her, but followed her despite it. They were men she had only met hours ago, who she had never known to exist until introductions and orders had been given.

They had known of her. Her name had resonated off the walls in the mess hall. Her name had been whispered at tables of friends and comrades in arms. Her name was one held in reverence and contempt- sometimes at the same time. In her men's eyes, they were being led by a legend.

To danger.

To death.

To the enemy.

Beyond the horizon, where the sun had dipped while she had been lost in thought, the Scanran army waited. Scouts had confirmed a battlefront that stretched for leagues in either direction. At sunrise, they would march on Fort Steadfast and fight for control of the borderline that Tortall had maintained for the last year. If they broke through, Giantkiller would be next, followed by everything between the Vassa River and Corus.

The only option was to ensure that Scanra's soldiers died on the field below where Kel now stood. Kel and her men had been given their orders- to cut off any retreat. Escaping wasn't even an option for the enemy. They could fight and die, or they could run and die, but Tortall was no longer in the mood for peace.

Footsteps on the parapet withdrew Kel from her thoughts before they could begin an internal debate that raged inside her. She remained in her position, leaning against the stone and staring as though she was watching the enemy bed down for their last night. The touch of someone's hand on her shoulder didn't surprise her.

He always knew where to find her.

"You're hiding" he chastised gently, following her gaze into the pitch black of the night.

"I'm thinking" she corrected softly, careful to keep her voice low.

"Liar. You're hiding because you know people will die tomorrow and despite what your head knows, your heart is already telling you it will be your fault." He rested his head against the stone and watched her shoulders tense with the truth.

She thought about her answer carefully, knowing that he would read the truth behind every word. Every pronunciation. He had learned that while her face could remain like stone, her voice gave her away.

"Have you ever noticed, each time we go into battle, we try to leave as few loose ends behind as possible? We try to make sure nothing is left undone, and yet there is always something. We forget to write a letter, or tell someone where our will is or decide we are not brave enough to tell that one person what's on our minds." She paused and felt him murmur his answer behind her ear. "Tomorrow is what songs are written about, ballads sung.

"As Pages we were taught that this is the moment where every ounce of skill and knowledge come into play. Anyone who dies tomorrow will die the death they hoped to achieve. Glory, honor, courage. And yet, we will all die knowing we left something undone."

He shifted behind her uneasily. He hated the reality of what the danger to her was. He hated how she was being so carefree with her acknowledgement that she could die tomorrow. More likely than other time he had fought with her, tomorrow could be the day it all ended. And things would be left undone. Unsaid.

"You will not die tomorrow. If I have to kill every Scanran who decides to head your way, I will" he whispered harshly, still determined to keep their conversation private.

She laughed. A single note that hung in the quiet night. It echoed along the walls.

"What good is it to me if you die trying to keep them away. It won't stop the guilt, Dom. Nothing stops the guilt. It lingers underneath, layering as more is added. I lead men to their deaths, to their surprised and unplanned endings. With things left unsaid." She twisted her vision away from the blank blackness of the river and looked up into his blue eyes.

The change in focus was sudden and black spots continued to dance as her vision adjusted. The silent wind played with his hair, twisting the strands into tiny elf knots that she longed to pull her fingers through. She felt the warmth of his hand as he placed it on the stone ledge beside hers. Her fingers curled in retaliation to her feelings.

"You cannot blame yourself for the lives they leave behind. They follow you willingly to a fate they know. The only thing left in your control is _your _life, Kel."

She ducked her head at his words and looked past him to the flickering torch. Her thoughts tumbled and warred inside her head. Looking up she considered the one thing left undone. Unsaid.

Her will was in her travel bags, packed neatly by her assigned bed in the room she had been given two days ago. Neal knew where it was. He also knew where the letters were, hidden inside the sealed envelope that held her last wishes. One letter to each of the people she hoped to see again.

The only thing left undone was standing in front of her. She had done this before. She had ridden into battle, knowing she may not come back. She had faced enemies, knowing they could beat her. Each time she had considered telling him and each time she decided against it. But this time was different. This time she embraced the realization of her position in the battle and knew the odds.

Reaching up she tugged a piece of his hair out of his face, smoothing it back with a watery smile. He looked surprised at first and then moved his hand to cup hers against his face.

"If something happens tomorrow, I want you to take care of Neal. I want you to make sure he doesn't blame himself- if I even make it to the infirmary. I want you to promise you will someday settle down with a girl who makes you her whole life- when you're ready to leave all this. Neal may be my best friend, but so are you." A flush lit up her cheeks, even in the dark, as she blushed.

"You sound like a mother sending her son off to war, not a commander who will be fighting with me" Dom joked but his smile didn't reach his eyes. Is that all she wanted to say? Be careful? Look after Neal?

Her eyes flashed in the dark and he realized that she hadn't thought his joke was funny. Dom felt guilty knowing that he had probably just ended her thoughts prematurely.

"Just don't do something stupid" she muttered, stepping around him to leave.

He grabbed her hand and she stared at it for a moment before meeting his eyes.

"Promise me you'll come back" he insisted.

She seemed so sure that tomorrow would be her death. That she and her men would fail. He needed to know she would come back to him. He wasn't as brave as her. He couldn't bring himself to tell her what he planned to leave unsaid. That she was beyond his best friend. That she was the reason he gladly followed her to war and across countries and to death's door. She would be the only reason for him to come back tomorrow.

She looked surprised for a moment, searching his eyes for something he had become practiced at hiding from her. She caught it for a second- and then gone.

"I can't promise you that. If I could make that promise to anyone, it would be you. But I can't." Untangling her hand from his grip, she slipped down the stairs to her room.

He watched her before the blackness of the spiraling steps swallowed her and he was left with no where to look but the darkness of the future.

To the west.

To the river.

To the enemy.

* * *

_A/N: So I had gotten a few requests from reviewers during the writing of Flirting With Consequence that asked for a oneshot, or story, on how Dom and Kel got together since it's vaguely mentioned in Flirting, and here is the beginning. I was trying to get over some writers block and this came easily in place of what I wanted so I wrote it out. It's not quite a oneshot, but it won't be near to how long my other stories have been. Review and I'll keep it going. _

_-Jez_


	2. Chapter 2

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Dom lay on his back, staring at the oak boards that formed his ceiling. The soft light of dawn leaked through his shutters and spread across the floor, informing him that he had run out of chances to sleep. He had come to his rooms after staying on the outer wall of the fort until the watch changed just after midnight and spent the night cursing himself for letting her walk away.

He felt his muscles cramp in protestation as he sat up and swung his feet over the edge of the bed, heavy boots scraping the wooden floor. He hadn't removed them yet and the sun warned him that it would hours before he had the chance again.

The Queen's Riders, acting as scouts for the fort's forces, had estimated it would take only a couple of hours for the Scanran army to cross the river and reach Steadfast. Even though Dom's squad had been merged with Sixth Company and been given orders to remain behind the gates until reinforcements were needed, he knew they needed to be ready for anything.

Dom changed his shirt and ran his hands through his hair, trying to collect his thoughts from last night into one consolidated, thought-out sentence that Kel would understand without further explanation. If he was to do this before her squad left the fort, it would have to be short. They wouldn't have time to explain or think about it. He just needed to say it and she just needed to understand.

He didn't want things left unsaid.

She needed to know.

He grabbed a jacket off his bed and swung the door open, scanning the courtyard that bordered the soldiers' barracks for the familiar figure and her horse among the dozens that crowded the space before him. Knights and Commanders were calling orders to their men while pages, squires and stable hands hurried to complete tasks that appeared miniscule but could mean life or death in the hours to come. Dom heard his name and turned instantly, the words on his tongue dying off as he realized he had been called by his cousin.

"My Lord of Cavall needs you in his chambers to cover the reinforcement strategy. He said to come dressed incase you're interrupted." Neal readjusted the sword that hung at his waist, rustling with the whisper of mail as he did so.

"You're assigned to the field?" Dom inquired, surprised to see Neal dressed in full mail with a helmet in his hand.

"I'm on the wall until casualties start coming in. What are you standing around for? Get dressed!" the younger knight told him harshly, shoving Dom back towards his door. "Are you waiting for something?"

Dom sighed and shook his head, re-entering his room. Neal took a seat by the door, watching as Dom stripped his shirt off for the snugger fitting, knitted shirt that kept his armor from chafing. Over it went unpolished mail and plate armor. Neal helped strap the plates in place as Dom pulled the blue and silver tunic on over everything with the sergeant's armband in full view. Neal handed him his belt and he added an axe, dagger and mace to the sword already hanging there.

"Is Kel already with my Lord?" Dom asked hesitantly, trying to form a plan to get her alone within the presence of their commanders. He accepted the helmet Neal held out and grabbed a pair of gauntlets out of his bags.

"No, she's already gone" Neal told him, shaking his head and holding open the door to the courtyard.

Dom felt his heartbeat speed up and his head spin as Neal's words reached his brain. Speeding up, he caught up with his cousin just outside the door of Cavall's chambers. Gripping Neal's shoulder, he spun the younger man around, causing him to scowl.

"What do you mean she's already gone?" Dom whispered harshly as Neal raised an eyebrow at him.

"I mean that she took her men and left- all of them. The fifteen cavalry and the twenty-odd foot soldiers who are going to make sure no one escapes back to the snow and the rocks need to be in position to move behind them when they attack the rest of us sitting in here. She left just before dawn. Why are you looking at me like that?" Neal thought his cousin looked like he was being strangled, his face pinched and pale.

Dom felt his stomach drop at the news. She was gone. Already left. He had lost his chance to tell her that she was his best friend- but the kind you want around all the time. If she didn't come back, he would never get to tell her what she meant to him. It finally hit him that she could actually die today. Thirty-five men and the Lady Knight against an entire retreating army. Dom choked in a lung full of air.

"I just wanted-" Dom stopped himself at the look of suspicion that was dawning in his cousin's eyes, "- to wish her good luck. It's a weird Own tradition. Not that she will need it." The last part was just above a whisper and Neal gave him another look before shoving the door to the Commander's quarters open.

"She spends too much time with the Own" Neal muttered under his breathe.

Dom raised a silent prayer to the gods before entering the room.

_Protect her when we fail to do so_.

* * *

On the edge of the expectant battlefield, Kel watched the flags of Steadfast snap in the wind. Her wandering thoughts reminded her of her first assignment, when a certain sergeant had hand-stitched her personal flag and raised it in salute. She smiled softly, lost in her thoughts, as she remembered its revered place in the chest back at her rooms in Corus.

Dom had called her sentimental when she had kept it with her things after Lalasa had unknowingly sent an expertly embroidered one. Just thinking of Dom made her want to think of something else. The previous night had not ended the way she'd planned. He thought her unnecessarily worrying. He was so confident nothing would happen to either of them. For a moment she had thought he would say something to her, but instead he had been predictable Dom, demanding promises that he thought would be easy to keep.

He made her want to scream.

All the time.

She was a sucker for punishment, she decided, because deep down the feeling she equated with needing to scream always circled back to being with him. Riding as much as she did with the Own was not simply for their company, but _his_ company.

The part of her mind that she had left to focus on important things- like the warning blasts of the fort's horn- called her back to reality as her men began shifting deeper into the woods. Shaking her head, she accepted a spyglass from her second-in-command, Canten Newberry. Now was not the time to deal with Dom and his covert messages and actions.

Canten remained silent as she scanned the opposite forest line that bordered the road that lead from the Conte Road to the Vass crossing. Still small and indistinguishable from the distance, horses and riders began emerging from the trees, followed by soldiers on foot and long-bowmen carrying quivers of arrows and already strung bows that the Wildmage would be hard-pressed to draw.

The Scanran army had arrived.

Trailing her spyglass along the tree line, Kel noted flags and standards that marked battalions, squads and companies. Columns began to form as men exited the woods and formed organized lines. Kel would have laughed at the audacity of considering the Scanrans organized, but the past two years had left her expecting nothing less of King Maggot's armies. As more men emerged from the trees and trails, Kel swung the glass towards Steadfast.

The Tortallans had been waiting since just past dawn. Their rows and columns statue-like in the autumn breeze, watching with unwavering stares as the enemy readied. She picked out flags marking Goldenlake and Hollyrose, King's Reach and Silverlake. On the eastern end of the gathering, a horse length behind Laurent of Eldorne's standard that bore the flag of Third Company, a soldier bearing the circle of Sergeant waited. His head never shifted in her direction, wary of betraying their hidden position, but she knew he was aware of where she waited.

She watched the Tortallans draw the circle against evil on their chests, praying for mercy and protection to the only ones who could offer it. Kel mimicked their actions, praying for her men's safety. Then she added another one that slipped from her mind in surprise.

_Protect him from following me to the afterlife._

* * *

In position on the eastern end of the Tortallan army, Dom felt himself shift with the horse under him as they waited. His mind forbid his eyes from seeking her out in the foliage opposite the enemy. He knew she was there. He could feel her presence on the field.

She always laughed when he said that, but it was true. The frenzy of battle seemed more calm, less bloodthirsty when she was commanding. He shifted subtly, barely making a movement. He waited for the signal.

The Scanrans had stopped entering the field. Their forces had spread out and organized into columns, still except for the wind ruffling the braided tufts of hair that hung down their backs. Dom was reminded of animals crouched for the kill- waiting for the prey to show signs of fear before ending the hunt.

They gave up waiting.

King Maggot hadn't beaten their impatience for violence out of them.

As the Scanrans raised their swords and axes in unison with the battle cry, Dom braced himself to guard the gates to Steadfast. Wyldon and Raoul had decided that they would need a way to secure the gates if reinforcements were to enter the field later. Dom had volunteered his men for the task.

It was the only way he would stop pacing the courtyard.

It was the only way he could stop wondering what she was doing.

As the Tortallan horn blasted the advancement call, and Dom's squad shifted back into position, Dom did what he had thought impossible. He shoved all thought of Kel and last night to the back of his mind and concentrated on the gates.

And getting home alive.

* * *

Kel heard the battle cry and answering horn blast with ice in her gut.

Shifting her hand from the reins to her glaive, she nudged Peachblossom ahead with her knees. Entering the field hundreds of feet behind the enemies backs, Kel and her men strung themselves into a loose line that cut off retreat towards the road. The only other escape would be the woods and the Queen's Riders would take care of that.

Her face showed nothing as Steadfast's soldiers merged with the Scanrans. As bodies disappeared and enemy and ally blurred into armor coated figures that all looked alike, Kel buried all thoughts of Dom under years of discipline and the need to command. The need to survive.

Shortening the distance between freedom and death, Kel swung her glaive up and waited for the enemy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

It had become a pattern.

Block. Attack. Defend. Swing. Kill. Repeat.

As man after man attempted to assail the gates and the exiting reinforcements, Dom continued his rhythmic pattern of slaughter. He pushed all fear and regret out of his head as comrades and enemies alike fell around him.

Continuing his focus, Dom cut down the man to his left, causing a momentary lull in the fighting around the gates. The remainder of Steadfast's soldiers and cavalry left the safety of the fort and began hacking and slicing their way to the center of the Tortallan defense, where the fighting remained heavy. Hearing the clang of the gates, the advancing Scanrans turned their attention to the field where their generals and majors and commanders were dying under Southern blades.

It was obvious the gates would not reopen.

A single glance at the ground surrounding the base of Steadfast showed no need for more forces at the moment.

Dom wiped a hand across his cheek, feeling the sweat trickle from under his helmet. Taking the precious moments of calm before regrouping to help those on the field, he took a survey of ground around him. His mind rationalized everything, cutting his emotions off before they could overwhelm him. That was for later. For now, he needed to guarantee safety before breaking down.

He could find no injury on himself. The adrenaline coursing through his veins and his hyper-alert brain hid any pain, but no blood could be seen and everything moved properly. His ears rang with the sound of steel and iron. His eyes blurred and gazed across everything as if seeing it through a mirror that was reflecting the sun.

He could pick out Winters and Blackstone among the dead. Sherivan's gold inlaid sword that had never left his side pierced the chest of a Scanran and Dom assumed the corporal was dead as well. Wolset appeared in one piece but the look in his eyes told the Sergeant that the man he tended too was not long for the mortal realms. Lerant was busy trying to attach the flag of Sixth Company to the same standard as the Third's. Dom barely registered what that must mean for Sixth's young helper.

Dom crouched down, feeling his muscles scream with the effort, and retrieved his mace from the skull of a dead Scanran. He didn't even bother to reattach it to his belt, knowing that he would need it again. Turning towards the field, he looked for Raoul amidst those still fighting.

"Do we stay at the gates?" Wolset asked wearily, coming to stand beside Dom with a naked sword in one hand and an axe in the other.

Dom considered the question for a moment, running numbers and positions through his head. His purposely refused to glance in the direction Kel should have been. Shaking his head, he came to a decision.

"No. We go to the others. Begin searching for the wounded. Take only those who look desperate but can still be saved. Neal and Thalia won't be able to save everyone. Keep an eye out for the enemy and anyone retreating- cut them down before Keladry is forced to deal with them." Dom raised his voice enough that those under his command immediately shook the exhaustion from their bodies and griped their weapons.

Dom put two fingers to his lips and whistled the signal that meant they were changing position. An answering whistle from the field and the fort's walls acknowledged permission.

Tightening his grip on his weapons, Dom began picking his way through the bodies that created a path from the walls of Steadfast to the battlefield at the bottom of the incline. As they made their way, Dom and Wolset pointed out wounded survivors to the other men, leaving the younger soldiers to get them to safety. Reaching the outer edges of the battle, Dom began hacking his way through to where the heavier fighting surrounded Raoul, Merric and Wyldon.

He had just beheaded a halberd-bearing Scanran when he heard an unfamiliar horn signal retreat. Dom took a step back as the man beside him turned away, only to turn back toward Dom with his axe raised when another foreign signal sounded across the field.

Dom felt dizzy as he recognized the pounding vibrations beneath his feet.

Bringing his mace up to the other man's face, Dom slammed it into his head, crushing his skull. When the dead man dropped to the ground, Dom could see what his body had blocked.

The arrival of enemy reinforcements.

* * *

Kel ripped her glaive from the body of the blonde Scanran who had tried to aim an axe at her head and turned her head in the direction of the foreign signal.

Her hands shook from exhaustion and her lower arm stung where someone's blade had nipped the skin that her gloves had left exposed. She felt detached from her body as she cut through the men trying to escape certain death beneath the shadows of Steadfast's walls. Her men held the loose line that kept anyone from escaping back to the river, but Kel dimly noted gaps in the line where someone had fallen.

The horn blast jolted through her mind as if she had burned herself on a candle flame. She had no time to think or give orders. Even if she had, she didn't know what they would be. In the back of her mind she registered the orders and bellows and hollering voices of her comrades as they saw what her brain refused to process.

Reinforcements were behind them and the half-dead, exhausted-to-the-core army in front of her was retreating.

She was trapped in the middle.

They were going to die.

It seemed as if time slowed down, like when she and Neal were pages and would watch the hourglasses on their professors' desks during lessons- counting down the moments of sand until they could be dismissed. But time wasn't slowing down and it wasn't until the Chieftain leading the reinforcements raised his sword and slammed his horse alongside Peachblossom that Kel's brain began functioning again.

Bringing her glaive up, she swung with deadly accuracy. The leader toppled from his horse as his sword arm was detached from his body. Kel had barely a moment to breathe before someone else came at her. And then another. And then another. She didn't have time to consider her men, because no matter how many Scanrans she seemed to cut through, another always took their place.

And then the retreating soldiers reached them and all mayhem broke out.

* * *

At the sight of the Scanran soldiers, Dom's carefully constructed walls that held his fear for her at bay crumbled to dust. He didn't wait for the signal he knew would come. He didn't wait to hear Raoul's orders that were probably directed at him because he was running faster than he ever had before. He cursed the Scanran that had forced him to sacrifice his horse over his life earlier in the fight.

Now, as he and the rest of the Tortallans tried to put themselves ahead of the retreating portion of the army to give Kel's squad a fighting chance against the new soldiers, all Dom could think about was his promise the previous night.

_If I have to cut down every Scanran before they get to you, I will_.

He managed to get within several feet of her before turning to protect her back from the retreaters.

For a moment he felt his heart stop as he saw the look that crossed her face.

It was the look she had given him in Scanra last year when she had entered the Gallan's castle. She intended to kill him but she hadn't expected to come out.

Dom pushed the thought away as he cut down the first man to reach him, not even realizing the Scanran held no weapon. Two more men followed him to death before the bulk of the retreat slammed into him.

* * *

Kel gripped her glaive in one hand and threw her axe, end over end, into the back of a soldier trying to decapitate Canten. His opponent fell and Kel turned back in just enough time to catch the downward swing of a sword on the handle of her weapon. The offending sword slipped off the wooden shaft and jammed her hand between its hilt and the pommel of her saddle.

She swore as her hand went numb and pain washed up her left arm. Ducking her head from the soldier's repeated attempt to kill her, she grabbed the glaive in her good hand and swung it up, slicing through the leather of his wrist guards and causing him to drop the weapon. Shifting her grip, she brought the blade across his neck, blood spatter raining down on her mail and mingling with that of countless others.

Maybe even hers, but she didn't stop to ponder it.

Shaking out her hand that was no longer numb but fiery with pain, she winced as she felt something grind and other things shift as she tried to make a fist. It was obviously broken and now useless. Heart breaking as she made her decision, she took one last position on her glaive and brought it in a one-handed arc across the back of a Scanran to her right. She left it in him.

Unhooking her mace from her belt, she gripped it with all the strength she had left in her. She had no more weapons left except her sword and she wasn't sure it would stand the abuse of the Northern halberds or maces given that she could only wield it with one hand. Swinging the mace to keep away opponents while she gathered her thoughts, she tried to find an ally. A Tortallan. Anyone not Scanran.

She couldn't see anyone but Raoul who was still several potentially dead people away.

She moved on instinct as she felt, rather than saw or heard, the horseman behind her. Turning Peachblossom with her knees, she brought the mace up to meet his. Her arm buckled but held under the pressure he was exerting on her.

She was distracted as she felt something sting across her cheek and felt her helmet ripped from her head as it snapped back. Recognition dawned on the face of her opponent as he realized her sex and the pressure on her arm increased as he tried to force her weapon down.

"Mindelan!" roared Raoul, finally within earshot of her.

His voice barely registered as steel on steel rang out and Kel assumed he had been intercepted by another adversary. Without the dull barrier the helmet had provided her, Kel's senses were suddenly overwhelmed by the increased noise level. Her ears rang as she tried to focus.

Suddenly the blood on her hands caused her grip to slip and her foe detached his weapon from her defenses and swung it lower. She turned to catch the blow on her shoulder, where the steel plates would protect her from its barbs, but her balance was thrown off by someone on her other side falling from their horse, and the blow met her back.

Kel was slammed into Peachblossom's neck and she felt the air leave her lungs and her vision blacken. Pain blossomed everywhere. She felt her mace leave her hand as the big Scanran raised his arm to bring his weapon across her skull. She didn't see who killed him in that brief moment of distraction but as he fell across her horse, his weight pushed her from the saddle.

* * *

Dom could only judge his position on the ground by Raoul's voice as it carried across the field.

Somehow Dom found himself on the fringes of the battle, along with three other men, with his back to the trees. He had just used a sword he had pulled out of a dead man's throat to kill the man in front of him when he heard someone gasp in surprise. Spinning he took in the dead man at Wolset's feet before looking at his friend.

An axe was buried on his right side, a hands span beneath his arm pit, between his ribs. Dom had barely taken a step before he collapsed.

"Damn" Wolset said, dully and Dom reacted to training.

"No. No, don't look at me like that" Dom ordered and he thought the other man had chuckled. "You're not going to die, yet. You still have to make it across the field to the fort." Dom quickly began stripping him of his armor as Wolset struggled to breathe.

"It's too far. Ignore me and go help Fabien" Wolset argued feebly, pushing away Dom's hand.

Dom glanced toward the other soldier and saw him using two swords to keep the last remaining Scanran at bay. Grabbing the sword from the ground, Dom leapt up and sprinted ahead. Driving his sword into the small of the man's back and yanking up, Dom felt the man die instantly. Letting him drop, he turned back toward Wolset.

Trying to haphazardly bandage the corporal's side as he slipped in and out of consciousness, Dom considered their surroundings. The three of them had been separated and driven away from the rest of the battle- a tactic well practiced as Dom saw small pockets of fighting taking place across the field. Looking to the center of the mess, he saw that those who remained mounted were Tortallan and Scanrans were breaking off and retreating as the numbers began to shift in Tortall's favor. The decision was easy.

"We need to get him to Neal" Dom ordered Fabien, as each of them grabbed an arm and hoisted the injured man to his feet.

The younger soldier only nodded and Wolset groaned.

"They need you here" he insisted although his words were sluggish and almost inaudible.

Dom was about to tell him to shut up when he heard Raoul bellow something. A shiver ran down his back as he instantly thought of her, but then Wolset lost his battle with consciousness and sagged between him and Fabien.

Dom simply shot one hesitant and panicked look in the direction he had last seen Kel before heading back towards safety.

* * *

Kel braced herself to land on hands and knees but her body was no longer obeying her. Rolling to her side, she grabbed Peachblossom's stirrup and tried to stand. Her knees buckled beneath the pain in her back, and she fought the blackness that had crept into the edges of her vision. Her hand went to the sword at her waist and she prayed for the strength to draw it.

It screeched as it left its sheath.

Or maybe that was an enemy blade raking across the protective mail on her shoulders.

She knew she was facing death. Surrounded by an enemy who could see she was wounded and her friends distracted by their own survival, Kel accepted her fate. But she didn't accept weakness.

Somehow her blade found itself buried in the stomach of a man whose eyes made her think of Dom. She was glad she hadn't made promises. She was quite sure she wouldn't be keeping any of the ones he wanted.

So much hadn't been said.

She had seen it in his eyes.

Stars exploded in her vision as pain erupted in her chest, close enough to her shoulder that the position registered in her darkening mind. Slipping and fumbling with her sword as she fell, she let the hilt go and left it in the dead man.

She wouldn't get to tell him.

And then nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The smell was a mix between sweet lavender, soap, willowbark and old blood. It clung to everyone and everything in the infirmary, whether they were patients, healers or soldiers helping to scrape the wounded off the now silent battlefield.

Neal stilled the tremors of exhaustion that threatened the steadiness of his hands as he thread the silken cords through the needle and began the process of stitching up the gaping wound above his cousin's left eyebrow. Using minimal magic that ran in low reserves, Neal afforded Dom the comfort of dulling the pain but each tug elicited another hiss from the Sergeant's lips.

"If you had let me do this hours ago, it wouldn't be so bad" Neal chastised wearily, deft fingers working. "I could have used the balm and it would have healed cleanly. Now you'll have a nice scar." He snipped the ends of the thread and smeared a finger full of mint smelling balm across the wound.

"The people out there are worse off than a tiny scar" Dom retorted angrily, rising impatiently from his stool.

"Won't you sound honorable when all the court ladies ask what happened to your perfect face" Neal told him as he stalked out of the building.

* * *

In the courtyard, Dom leaped into the back of a wagon waiting to make another trip to the field- to pile the dead for burial and bring back the few survivors. Dom cringed as his boots contacted blood stained hay that coated the bottom of the wagon bed, some old and some relatively fresh. He noticed that he could still smell the infirmary, as if the smell had lodged in his senses and would never leave.

A reminder of death.

As the wagon left through the now opened gates, the smell of blood and decay became stronger. The sight of the battlefield as they drew closer, shocked him to the core. When he had dragged Wolset through dead bodies and up the embankment to the barred gates and then across the courtyard, he hadn't been paying attention except to his target. His goal. Everything else had remained on the peripheral as something to deal with later.

He had intended to leave his friend in capable hands and bolt back to the fight. To her. To take down anyone in his way. But duty and necessity had stopped him. Neal and Thalia, who was only newly out of the university, had been overwhelmed by the wounded being brought in by those members of Sixth and Third Company who had followed Dom's earlier instructions and began clearing the field when the battle moved. Dom found himself following Neal's direction to begin triaging men at the gates. He had cast judgment on those who thought they were close to salvation only to find themselves being condemned as too severe.

For hours, Dom found himself cast in the role of judge, ruler and god until the line of survivors dwindled and those hauling bodies up the incline simply ignored Dom's position at the gate walked past him to set their burdens on the growing pile of dead. Only when Dom had had enough, did he give the job of Faleron of King's Reach and excuse himself to check on his men.

Once in the infirmary, Neal had attacked him with a needle.

Dom had agreed only if Neal promised that when he finished, he sleep.

Reaching the field, Dom leapt from the wagon and let his gaze wash over the gory field that was supposed to have held honor and victory. In all directions, similar wagons were being loaded by soldiers as someone else dug through the bodies to pronounce them dead or alive, enemy or foe. On the far side of the field, near the center of both lines, a growing pile of Scanran soldiers grew as they were tossed unceremoniously into a heap, stripped of weapons and armor.

Voices called to one another across the stillness of the plain. The wind barely touched them as it passed through the trees and after endless hours of the sound of steel, Dom wondered if his hearing had diminished. He noted Wyldon of Cavall's strong back further away, near the tree line that had sheltered the reinforcements, his shoulder bandages and his arm in a sling.

An axe had buried itself between his back and shoulder.

Dom had been in the infirmary when his men brought him in, signaling the end of the battle.

A flash of red hair a few feet from Wyldon meant Merric was still alive. Dom hadn't seen him in the fort since the end and had ignored the possibility of him lying dead on the field somewhere. He couldn't see her but he assumed Kel was with one of the groups. Peachblossom had been found in the stables. No one had said anything, but he knew her enough to know she wouldn't leave any of her men on the field.

She would find them all herself.

Raoul was unconscious in the infirmary, having lost blood to a wound between his shoulder and ribs, where something had pierced him underneath. Neal said he would survive, but it would take awhile for him to come around.

Dom took up the position of sorting through the debris on the ground. Stripping the bodies at his feet of armor and weapons, he began handing the Tortallan soldiers to the men in the wagon and piling the enemy on his other side. He felt detached as he noted the growing space around the wagon, as grass began to replace bodies and the soil absorbed the blood. Dom felt his stomach dance as blood ran down his arms and coated his hands with each dead soldier he lifted.

When the wagon was full, the driver turned the horse back towards the fort. Dom barely needed to pause in his mindless work, as a new wagon took the full one's place. Dom recognized the driver as Merric's squire, Cullen, his sister's child by the Lord of Blue Harbor.

"My Lord will be glad to hear you are well" the boy greeted Dom, dismounting to help him.

Dom barely nodded and Cullen kept his thoughts to himself as they worked together. He had to acknowledge the boy's hardwork, seeing that this was more than enough death for a soldier let alone a first year squire. Loading the last man on, Dom held the reins for him as he climbed into the seat.

"Lad, have you seen the Lady Knight?" Dom asked suddenly, gripping the reins that Cullen had reached for and looking up.

The sun was directly behind his head, setting fast, and shadowing Cullen's eyes but Dom thought he had seen something flash in his eyes. Fear? Disappointment? Uncertainty? Dom felt his blood freeze in his veins. Finally, the boy answered in an even tone that hinted at nothing.

"She's on the field, Sergeant."

"What do you mean-" Dom scanned those working around him but couldn't see her familiar figure.

"-We need to hurry" Cullen interrupted, whistling to the horse, "we're running out of daylight."

Dom nodded and bent down to help load more of their dead into another wagon that had arrived. His fingers shook as he tried to unclasp the buckles on a soldier's chest plate. It took him several tries as he tried to focus on his task and not the irrational thoughts Cullen had brought on with his simple answer.

_She's on the field_.

But Dom couldn't find her among those working. No one else, including these new men with this wagon, had seen her. Neal hadn't treated her in the infirmary-

_She's on the field. _

They couldn't find her.

* * *

Merric of Hollyrose had faced death. Numerous times, actually, once he considered it. In his page years and later in squire years, he had faced bandits and hillmen. Once knighted and stationed at Haven, the killing machines had brought death in a new form. Since full out war had erupted along the border in the last two years, Merric had lost men, family and friends.

Death wasn't new to him.

But his current task was.

He was searching for a hero. A legend simply because of her sex. A friend who had protected his back more times than he could count and would have put herself between him and the entire army this morning, if given the chance. And somehow they had all let her down. Her and her men.

Three of them had been found and were in the infirmary. One had somehow managed unscathed and was loading abandoned weapons into a wagon on the edge of the trees. The rest had been found dead or were still among those at Merric's feet- and so was she.

Kel was dead.

It kept racing through Merric's head as he methodically pushed aside bodies and stacked them so he and the other's could know where they had searched. They hadn't found her, but they knew she was here. No one at the fort had seen her and she hadn't been in the infirmary to see Neal. Peachblossom had appeared in the courtyard but others had assumed she had sent him- Merric's gut told him differently. She was on the field- missing among the gory, bloodied bodies that she had fought and protected.

Mithros, who was going to tell Neal, who they had all been avoiding and hoping he was too exhausted to consider the possibility, that she was gone?

Who was going to tell Raoul? Or Dom?

Merric sighed and rubbed grimy hands into his eyes, fighting exhaustion and hunger. No one could eat and perform this job. Burial duty and meals didn't tend to go together. He crouched down to rollover a man in Own's blue and silver who lay face down with a sword in his back- and froze.

With numb fingers, Merric reached beside the dead soldier and wrapped his fingers around the hilt of a sword that lay imbedded in the gut of a Scanran. The man's eyes were open and Merric shivered hideously as he shut them- their sapphire blue was disturbingly familiar.

So was the sword.

Flipping the end up, Merric ran a thumb over the impression stamped into the metal- Raven Armories.

It was Kel's.

Standing with the sword still in his hand, Merric scanned the area around him. Trying to think through her decided steps that would give him a possible direction to search, Merric wracked his brain in desperation.

She would have fought with her glaive before choosing her sword. She was so attached to Griffin that everyone knew she hated the idea of leaving it behind on a battlefield or having it picked up by someone else's hand. So the sword would have been a last resort.

Picking up his pace, Merric began turning over every soldier on the ground. Pushing aside the body of a Scanran Chieftain, judging by the beads in his hair and cloak tangled around his body, he grimaced at the mace still held in the man's hand. He was just about to move past the leader when something caught his eye.

Her helmet.

The chin strap had been cut and there was blood on the leather, but the Yamani symbol for protection was still painted inside in Yuki's careful hand. Merric shut his eyes when he considered the possibilities of her death. Opening them, he bent to pick up the helmet and gasped.

The mud and spatter from feet and hooves had barely touched her face, although it ran in tiny rivers down her hairline and under jaw. Blood ran with it. Pushing aside the man on top of her, Merric brushed her hair back with trembling fingers. Cupping his hand along her pale, marble cheek, he rubbed a thumb along the wound that had probably forced the helmet from her head.

He felt tears in his eyes as his gaze wandered the length of her body. The only visible wound he could find, other than the one on her cheek, was where the sword pierced her chest just under her collarbone and above her right breast. Angrily, he wrapped his fingers around the foreign hilt and ripped it from her body.

Blood welled up beneath her mail and spilled down her chest to the still thirsty ground. Merric stopped breathing. Blood didn't run from dead people. Not dead people who were thought to have been dead hours ago. Turning his eyes back to her face, he fought for clumsy fingers to find the artery in her neck.

Faint. Thready. Uneven. But still there.

A pulse.

Reeling back, he pressed a hand over the gapping wound in her chest and applied pressure. Looking desperately around, he saw others searching further away.

"I found her!" he cried, pitching his voice to carry over the whole field. "I need help!"

* * *

Lord Wyldon of Cavall was rehearsing what he would say to the men at the fort when he announced that the Lady Knight was dead. He considered how to convey her worth while maintaining the humility she so often sought. A yell ripped those thoughts apart as he heard Hollyrose's cry of discovery.

"I need help" he had said and the commander let the words sink in before turning in the direction of the knight.

Merric wouldn't have announced her death like that. Without consideration for dignity.

Dead people wouldn't need help.

* * *

Merric's call for help stopped Dom in his tracks on the other side of the field.

They had found her.

He felt tears well up as he stood to watch the flurry of activity as those around Merric ran to help. Dom felt frozen as he saw them hover and argue and move. He saw Merric swing her up into his arms and begin walking towards him.

Of course they wouldn't toss her in the wagon, Dom argued with himself, but as Merric got closer he heard Cavall's orders being shouted to find Neal.

Why would they need Neal? Surely it would be kinder to tell him in private-

Dom's logical thoughts were cut off as Merric neared him, heading towards the fort. Without thinking, Dom took a step forward, into Merric's path. Reaching a hand out to stop him, Dom's hand brushed against her pale hand that rested on her chest.

"Merric, can I-" Dom faltered on the words as Merric looked into his eyes, shaking his head.

"Wait for Neal to save her first" he told the sergeant without missing a step.

Dom almost fell backwards as Merric's meaning was processed.

They had found her alive.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for your very- uh- intense reviews. I'm glad you all love it enough to write such detailed and thought out considerations. I thought this chapter would ease all your anxieties about Kel (although Trusting Fate sort of gives it away, but who never likes angst?). So yes, she's still alive. Dom gets his chance, even if he doesnt use it and everyone gets to see past the 'legend' and the 'story' and see the human side of Kel- the one where she continuously destroys her nine lives._

_-Jez_


	5. Chapter 5

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Neal had made a promise and he had intended on keeping it, yet sleep eluded him. Staring at the ceiling above his cot, in the room set off the infirmary, Neal gave up waiting for sleep and let his thoughts roam.

They thought he didn't know. He laughed weakly out loud, feeling tears tighten his throat. He was fairly certain the only person who didn't know the Lady Knight was missing was Dom and he would learn as soon as he reached the field. Neal sighed and shifted on the hard mattress.

His first thoughts when Dom had refused medical attention had been because of a rush to help those quietly searching for her, but his impatience and distance had left Neal knowing that his poor cousin was in the dark with the rest of the fort. Neal supposed that he was assumed to be in the dark as well, but he wasn't stupid.

She would have come to check on him at once. To see which of her men had been found. To make sure Faleron and Raoul and Dom were okay. As much as she would have hated leaving the battlefield, she would have come. But she didn't.

So Neal knew, and as the hours crept by, a cold iciness had settled in his gut.

After Dom had left, Neal gave up hope of them bringing her through the doors and did his cousin's bidding.

He tried to sleep.

The rude awakening that came with the pounding on the door to his room caused Neal to realize that he had eventually fallen asleep. The light coming through the window indicated it had been a couple of hours, enough that the magic in his veins hummed with more strength than the thready buzzing it had been earlier. Exhaustion still tugged at his muscles as he tried to think past the sound of someone trying to bring the door down.

"Neal!" the insistent voice yelled through the door, jiggling the doorknob and shaking the door. "Neal get out here now!"

It was Danton Oaks, one of the soldiers they had brought from New Hope. Neal's heart tripped at the sound of anxiety in the man's voice. Swinging his booted feet to the ground, Neal lurched to the door, hauling it open.

The infirmary outside his room was in chaos.

And the one voice he could hear above the din was Wyldon of Cavall, ordering people out.

"My Lord?" Neal called, trying to clear the sleep from his brain.

People were everywhere. Thalia was trying to push past Dom who was yelling something about 'only Neal will touch her' and trying to brush off Fal's arms that were trying to get him out of the way. Merric was leaning over whoever was at the center of mess, and when he looked up to search for Neal, their eyes met and Neal knew.

It was Kel.

Neal shouldered his way through, pushing men out of his way and grabbing Dom's arm, wrenching him around to look at him.

"You want to stay?" he asked harshly, "then go sit in my room until we get people out of here. You're not helping."

As Neal pushed Dom towards the empty room, he heard the commander ordering everyone else out into the courtyard. Faleron followed Dom into the room, taking a seat on the bed, closer to the door than Dom in case the other man decided to ignore his orders.

Neal turned his focus to the bed and clamped his lips shut so as not to give away his surprise. Merric had remained, his hands clamped over the wound in her chest that continued to leak blood. The blood seemed to be everywhere but it was the only thing convincing him she was alive.

Her face was so pale, he would have thought otherwise.

"Mother Goddess, help me" he prayed softly, looking at Merric's pinched face.

"It's my fault" he stammered, "I thought she was dead and I pulled the sword out. I didn't realize…I didn't think… I-" Neal cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"It doesn't matter. There's something else. I can feel it." Motioning Thalia to replace Merric's hands, Neal moved to search her for some other injury. "Merric, help me turn her on her side."

Merric's hands were steady as he gently gripped her shoulder and slipped a hand under her back as Neal gripped her hip. His hand slipped in blood. Pulling up the mail shirt and the cotton shirt under it, Neal hissed between his teeth.

"She got hit with a mace. Damn it!" he cursed, trying to steady his nerves. Turning he motioned to Dom and Fal who were still watching from the doorway. "I need help with her armor. It needs to come off."

* * *

On the battlefield, soldiers continued to work.

On the edge of the field, near the trees, they found another of Kel's men.

Suffering from a broken collar bone and a crack to the head, the foot soldier had regained consciousness only to learn that nearly all his comrades were dead and his commander could have bled to death in the last hour since being found.

They found the rest of her men as the sun sunk below the horizon and night brought the illogical feeling of peace.

He thought back to Lady Keladry's speech the night before as the men led him to the infirmary. She had been right.

Death had found all of them in a way.

* * *

Neal was jerked awake by a slight touch on his arm. Raising his head from where it had been resting on his folded arms, he looked at his commander through blurry eyes. He had fallen asleep at her side and now the darkened room was silent except for the quiet breathing of the patients.

"How is she?" Cavall asked gruffly, his expression giving away what his words would not- that he was worried. That he cared. Neal filed the thought away for another time.

"She's alive. I don't expect her to wake up anytime soon, but she'll live." Neal rested his chin on his hands as he watched her chest rise.

On the other side of her cot, Dom's head rested on the edge of the mattress. His hand gripped her good hand, anchoring her to the mortal realms. Neal was too exhausted to recall if his cousin had ever been this protective- it was almost possessive.

"King's Reach said something about her hand" Cavall added, letting his gaze wash over the girl who had won his respect by going against everything he had believed.

"Yeah" Neal confirmed quietly, brushing a stray hair away from her face, "we didn't have enough magic to fix it completely. I set the bones but we'll have to let it heal on its own. It will drive her crazy" he added with a small chuckle.

"And everything else?"

Neal sighed, running his hands through his hair. He had no idea how she had survived. No idea how she could have stood through each new injury in order to receive the next.

The mace should have crushed her spine, but it just missed.

Losing her helmet should have snapped her neck.

Being run through should have killed her immediately, but someone had misjudged their aim.

Neal shook his head as he considered the damage he and Thalia had worked through. He considered the broken ribs and the blood loss, the concussion and the possible infection. Trailing a finger along the wound on her cheek, he let a quick flash of green smooth away the pink line that trailed from her temple to her cheek bone.

It was selfish but he smiled anyway, knowing she wouldn't have a scar.

"It will be awhile, sir, before she's herself. I think she's in for a few court lady jokes" Neal informed him.

"I figured" the commander said, turning to leave for his own quarters. Stopping at the doorway, he paused for a moment. "Your cousin seems fairly devoted to her. Talk to him. She's going to need a babysitter."

Neal just nodded and let his gaze drift back to the broken girl in front of him. Making sure she was warm enough, he left for his own bed. Dom would wake him if there was a problem. Sinking onto the mattress without undressing, he finally felt the steel bands that had been squeezing his heart dissipate.

He welcomed the sleep that overwhelmed his senses.


	6. Chapter 6

**Unsaid Promises**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

To Dom, the days seemed to drag on in agony.

As the days following the battle flowed one into the other, the evidence of death was slowly annihilated as burials took place and the enemy were burned. Weapons were cleaned and mended, returned to their owners or placed in the storerooms. Information was gathered and sent, enemy positions and intentions tracked and analyzed.

On the surface, things returned to normal, leaving individuals to mourn their losses in private.

And Kel slept.

Those soldiers that were able, once awakened to the world of the living again, were sent back to the barracks. Raoul woke on the second day, terrorizing Neal into submission until Cavall pulled rank and ordered him to behave. By the third day Neal had sent him back to his rooms and by the fourth Neal declared him fit enough to do whatever he wanted- as long as he stopped growling at everyone.

Five days after the attack, Dom was on the roof of the mess hall repairing the northern corner of the roof in preparation for the coming winter. Holding the hammer in one hand and a nail in the other, Dom pounded the nail into the shingle he was replacing. Taking another nail from the handful he had placed between his teeth, he repeated the task, only glancing up to see how the others working on the task were progressing.

A clatter of horses in the courtyard caused him to look up, tipping over the buckets of nails in doing so. Cursing he began scooping them back into the pail while trying to watch the scene below him.

It was four horses- messengers from Mastiff, he realized. As the men dismounted, they were greeted by Raoul who had been on the ramparts inspecting damage caused by the Scanrans who had managed to scale the walls for mere seconds before being shot down. Taking the oiled, leather folder that bulged with orders and messages from Corus and the other forts, Raoul looked around before spotting Dom.

"Sergeant! The courier bears messages from New Hope and Corus for Hollyrose, Queenscove and Mindelan. Can you deliver them for me? Tell Neal he has permission to open the Lady Knight's." Raoul indicated that the couriers should grab a meal before departing with any outgoing messages.

Dom sighed and set his hammer down. Descending the ladder, he nodded to the courier who handed him a similar oiled envelope with the New Hope crest on it and hurried to the armory. He found Merric helping to catalogue and inspect the weapons retained from the battle. The knight thanked Dom as he sorted through the letters to find those addressed to him.

Dom found Neal restocking supplies in the infirmary.

Glancing up at the sound of a visiter, Neal watched his cousin walk through the rows of mainly empty beds before reaching him. He kept his surprise to himself when Dom didn't stop to make sure Kel was still alive, as was his normal tendency. His cousin handed him the envelope before taking a seat on a stool and pouring himself a mug of tea that Neal had just made.

"My Lord says to sort through and send any letters with the outgoing rider. He also gives you permission to sort through her mail and answer anything pertaining to New Hope" Dom said in a wary voice, raising his arms over his head and stretching.

Neal nodded absently and dumped the letters on his desk, sorting them with deft fingers into two piles. He handed one to Dom, who saw that they were addressed to Kel.

"Figure out which ones are personal and which are official so that I can start answering these" he said, indicating his own pile that were marked with the blue seal of the King.

Dom sat up and took the letters in his hands.

New Hope….New Hope. …New Hope. ..Her parents. …Yuki. …Shinko. …New Hope. ….Corus. …New Hope. ….New Hope. …Frasrlund. …Corus. …

Dom handed the official ones over to Neal and then pointed out the two from Yuki and Shinko. Neal silently noted that he would let them know what was going on. He also slid the one from her parents under his personal stack to keep for when she woke up.

Sighing, Dom stood and grudgingly decided he should get back to work. He had taken a few steps towards the door when Neal snapped his eyes away from the letter in his hand.

"Do you have somewhere to be?" he asked softly, picking up another letter and skimming its contents. His eyes flicked to Dom.

"Not really, unless Raoul has destroyed something just to make sure I have something to do." The last part was muttered under his breath but Neal caught it and chuckled.

"Do you mind staying here for a moment? Thalia's sleeping off the night shift and I need to reply to these. I'll only be a few minutes, I just don't want to leave-" his gaze flicked to Kel for a moment before looking back to Dom who nodded in understanding.

"-I can stay with her" he told his cousin softly, moving to take the more comfortable chair that had been placed beside Kel's bed.

Neal just nodded and grabbed the letters he needed, leaving for his official room upstairs.

Cradling his tea in one hand, Dom propped his other arm on the arm of the chair and rested his head in his hand, taking comfort in the even rhythm of her breathing. As long as he could see her inhaling and exhaling, be close enough to hear her heartbeat, than his heart would stop the anxious dance it had been doing since the morning of the battle.

Since the moment he had thought he had lost her.

Since the moment he had thought it was too late for her to know.

Now, as he sat in the dimly lit room listening to the sounds in the courtyard and the steady hammering on the roof of the building next door, all the things he wanted to say crowded his tongue- threatening to slip out without any coherency. He bit his lip, knowing that they would have to wait. He wouldn't say them in cowardice or impatience while she lay there unable to feel the truth behind them.

No, he would have to wait.

Tipping his cup again, he realized he needed more tea. Getting up silently, Dom padded without a sound to the desk to make another pot. Moving the remaining letter aside, he took down a second cup for Neal when he got back and took the lid off the canister of tea leaves, placing enough in both cups. He was absently stirring them in the water when he heard her.

Dom spun around so fast he nearly knocked the teapot to the ground.

* * *

Everything hurt.

That was first thing that broke through the black nothingness Kel had felt trapped in for what seemed like eternity. She had sensed people and motions, heard voices coming through the void, and felt familiar hands, but everything had seemed just out of reach.

Just beyond where she could go.

Woven around the darkness were flashes of Scanran soldiers and her men falling. Dom was among them. So was Neal. And Kel had lost the battle on remembering what was real and what was not. Either appeared as nightmares and her fears blurred with what her consciousness could recall.

She had floated in the abyss- hoping that when she awoke it would be to her own bed with Jump beside her, proving it was all a horrible dream that Dom would laugh at when she told him.

Instead she woke to pain and the taste of dust in her mouth.

Gritting her teeth, Kel focused her thoughts as her nightmares tumbled through her head. Opening her eyes, she tried to make the world stop spinning like a weaver's spindle. Careful not to cry out, she turned her head enough to find the footsteps she had heard. He had his back to her.

Her head pounded and suddenly it felt like she was drowning, with her breath coming in short spurts and her heart beating wildly as memories of the battle crashed around her. She called out to Neal, but it came out in a croak and her lungs reacted violently, throwing her into a coughing fit that made it feel like she would split down the middle.

Instantly, arms slipped around her and helped her sit up, murmuring words in her ear. A cup was pressed to her lips and she tasted water. Her body reacted from the days of deprivation and she greedily drank it until the blurry person beside her took it away and she could focus on her surroundings. Her lungs burned but at least she could breathe again. Closing her eyes, she relaxed into the sturdy arms and chest that offered the only solid presence she had been aware of in days.

Footsteps running on the stone floor registered in her foggy brain, but she didn't bother to open her eyes. She would know Neal's step anywhere. Somewhere in the pain-dazed recesses of her mind, Kel recognized Dom's voice and realized that he was holding her.

She heard them speaking- quiet murmurings meant to be inaudible to her- talking too fast for her to keep up. She was content to drift where she was, unwilling to move and feel the white pain flare again. Someone whispered in her ear and she was about to ignore them when she felt hands shift her from her current position.

Crying out, she tightened her grip with the one hand that would obey.

More whispers broke through the haze.

And then it was receding in the wake of a flickering green light.

She relaxed again, clinging to consciousness until the voice in her ear told her to sleep.

_Sleep, Love. We're not going anywhere._

* * *

Dom felt Kel relax in his arms as she gave in to sleep.

Only then did he let himself relax as well.

He looked up to see Neal clinging to the back of the chair, face ashen. Dom frowned as he realized that the Healer had yet to gain back his full strength. The non stop days in the infirmary and the uneasy nights of sleep had left him running on empty- just enough magic for emergencies.

Kel had just drained him.

Gods, he had been scared. Not as scared as when Merric carried her off the field- nothing would ever top that, he was sure- but the vulnerability that had her crying out in pain had shattered his nerves. Even now as Neal regained some color and began rearranging her pillows, Dom fought the urge to hold her to his chest.

Instead he lay her down as gently as possible, feeling his heart twist as she let out a whimper. Dom could see that Neal was having the same reaction, judging by the pinched look on his already drawn face.

"You need to sleep" Dom ordered, pointing his cousin in the direction of the extra cot off the main room.

"But what if she-"

"Sleep, Meathead. I'll stay until Thalia starts her shift."

Neal merely nodded and stumbled to the bed, collapsing in a heap.

Dom waited until he heard the snores before dragging the chair closer to her bed and wrapping his fingers around her hand. Watching her pulse flutter like a butterfly beneath her jaw, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Kel woke later in the night to the waiting inferno of pain.

She gasped Dom's name as she took in the dark room that flickered from the light of a single candle. She felt the warm presence of his hand. Awareness came easier this time.

Before she could call his name a second time, unfamiliar hands rested on her forehead and Thalia's yellow tinted magic flared and died.

Kel closed her eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Unsaid Promises**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Neal was sorting through supplies on his desk when Kel awoke again. The infirmary was so quiet that the sounds from the courtyard drifted in unheeded through the partially opened shutters that he had opened to accept the unnaturally warm air.

Humming to himself as he sorted powders and herbs, he added what needed to be restocked to the list lying beside him. Replacing the filled canisters on the shelves, Neal paused in his work to refill the teacup he had been nursing all morning.

The scent of spearmint permeated the air as he stirred the leaves into the water. Wrapping his fingers around the cup to enjoy the warmth, he reached a hand over to pick up his quill. Sighing, he reread the few lines he had managed to write in his letter to Yuki.

He had hastily written one to send with the Mastiff rider yesterday, but it had been nothing more than to tell her that they were all safe and healing. He spared his wife the details that would require more thought and precision, but now that he had found a spare moment, there seemed to be no way to convey the events of the last week.

Taking a sip from the cup, he dipped the quill into the ink and began explaining the battle and its aftermath. Including Kel. He forwarded the commanders wishes to keep the casualty numbers obtuse until official word could reach all military units.

Rereading the lines, Neal was still frustrated with how cold and analytical it sounded.

He heard movement behind him and he set the teacup down as he looked over his shoulder. He knew she was awake by the change in her breathing. It was rapid but controlled, telling him she was trying to fight through the pain. As he stood, she looked at him, not quite focused but recognizing him nonetheless.

"Dom?" she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut as she winced at the hoarse sound of her own voice.

Maybe she didn't recognize him, Neal thought with a small smile.

"He's in the room next door, sleeping. He was here all night with you while Thalia dealt with some complications with one of the men" Neal told her softly as he reached the bed. Reaching for a mug of water that rested on the table beside the bed, he raised his eyebrows in question. "Ready for an experiment?" he asked with a glint of tired humor.

Kel was too exhausted and worn out to ask for details. She simply nodded and let him slip an arm behind her and expertly help her sit up without interfering with any of her injuries.

But she still felt them.

Biting her lip she took a deep breath and exhaled through her nose as she felt the roaring in her ears subside. The water was warm, but it had the slight taste of lemon and it quenched her dry throat. She drank greedily until it was empty.

"Good girl. Give me a few minutes and I'll make tea. If you can stomach that then maybe it will deal with some of the pain so Thalia and I don't need to keep knocking you out." Kel felt the bed shift slightly as he piled the pillows behind her enough to keep her in an upright position. "I'll be right back."

Kel just nodded as she lay against the pillows, eyes closed, listening to Neal's quick footsteps and the slight clink of mugs and the teapot. A new set of footsteps caught her attention and she looked to see who it was.

Dom leaned against the doorframe of the extra bedroom. Dark hair fell over his forehead and his eyes were still clouded with sleep, but the deep blue sparkle was still there as he watched her for a moment before approaching.

"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty" he said quietly, leaning down to brush the hair off her forehead.

She turned her cheek into his hand, feeling its coolness against the heat of her own skin. The pain wasn't as bad as yesterday when she had awaken disorientated and fuzzy. Now it was a constant throbbing that radiated from everywhere. Constant but nothing compared to before.

It had felt like someone was holding matches to every nerve in her body.

She sighed when he moved his hand to her hand.

"Neal said you were sleeping" she whispered, still feeling foggy.

"I was" he answered lightly.

She didn't answer, instead opening her eyes to find him watching her.

"How's the pain?" he asked as Neal's steps sounded closer.

"Bad" she answered truthfully, too tired to hide it.

He laughed as Neal passed him the teacup and nodded in her direction.

"This should help" Neal told her before turning to Dom, "I'm going to run next door and get more hot water, see if you can get that into her."

Dom nodded and set the cup on the table, shifting himself onto the bed so he could prop her up further. He felt his heart trip as she leaned into him, her good hand gripping his knee as if to prove she still had some strength. Bringing the cup to her lips, he held it as she took a sip- grimaced- and then forced herself to swallow more.

Halfway through, she shoved the cup away.

"Meathead said to drink it all" Dom told her softly.

She sighed and reached for the cup. He let her wrap shaky fingers around the handle before placing his hand over hers to steady it. When it was gone, she tilted her head so she was resting under the crook of his jaw.

"How bad was it?" she asked after he set the cup on the table again.

He hesitated. She felt it in his body as he tensed and then relaxed. He laced his fingers through hers, assuring himself she was real. She waited for him to think of how to answer.

"We thought you were gone" he told her, his voice barely high enough to be considered a whisper. "Even when Merric found you-" his voice trailed off and Kel didn't ask him to finish.

He thought she had been dead. How would she have felt if it had been her? If she had been combing the field for his body? What if she had passed into the Black God's realms and hadn't told him- all because his humorless joke that night had hurt her pride? Had made her flee when her courage deserted her. Would he have handled it as he did each time he lost a friend? It was too much for her to consider at the moment.

She looked down at his calloused fingers, letting her thoughts cartwheel and jump around without any order. Tearing her gaze away from his hand, she looked for her other one.

Dom felt her arm move beside his knee and realized what she wanted. Gently peeling the blankets away, he cradled the splint in his hand as he replaced the coverings with it resting on top. Swelling and bruising marked the delicate skin of her hand.

"That's the only one I remember" she told him dully, "he jammed it between the hilt and something else." She closed her eyes again.

"What about the mace?" Dom asked and she shook her head.

"How long?" she asked sleepily, feeling the effects of Neal's concoction now that the pain had dulled everywhere but her chest.

"Almost six days ago" he told her, watching her struggle to process the thought through the increasing haze.

"New Hope?" she slurred as he shifted to keep a more a comfortable grip on her.

"They're fine but you won't be seeing them for awhile" he told her gently.

He smiled when she didn't answer, hearing her breathing slow into a steady rhythm. Trying to get up before Neal returned and asked untactful questions, Dom tried to untangle her fingers. She tightened her grip, drawing his hand to her chest. Sighing he gave in and leaned his head against the wall, closing his eyes.

When Neal returned, he found both of them sleeping.

Rolling his eyes, he made himself a fresh pot of tea and tried to finish his letter.

* * *

Lord Raoul of Goldenlake and Malories Peak, Commander of the King's Own, watched his former squire from the doorway of her room. Despite the fact that she was now a woman of twenty and not a child of fourteen, Raoul felt guilt wash over him as she murmured in her sleep.

She was his responsibility. She was Wyldon's as well, surely, since he was her commanding officer, but Raoul felt just as obligated to protect her as anyone else. He had watched her grow up, the only squire who had done so in his care since the days when Alanna had been Alan and Jonathan had been a prince, and Kel had taken the place in his heart that a daughter would have.

It was the only point of occasional nostalgia in his marriage to Buri. They had known that children would probably not be an option, seeing as how Buri was past the age of childbearing, but they had always agreed that their charges filled the gap nicely. Watching Kel sleep, the memories of her falling from her horse forever engraved in his mind, Raoul could only imagine his reaction to be equivalent to a father's.

He was the only one who had fully accepted her death. When he had woken in the infirmary and saw her lying motionless on the bed, he had thought he was losing his mind. Unlike everyone else who had been focused on the enemy around them, Raoul had seen her lose ground.

He had watched the Scanran arrow graze her cheek and rip the helmet from her head.

He had seen her fall under the power of the enemy's mace.

When she fell, he had been so sure she was dead.

Even now, with her color slowly replacing the white pallor of her cheeks and the occasional mutterings of nightmares, Kel did not resemble the strong, self assured commander that Tortall had become used to hearing about. She didn't look like the hero that people would call her, or believe her to be.

She looked fragile.

Neal murmured his apologies as Raoul moved aside to allow him to enter the spare room off of the infirmary. It offered privacy and quiet to her, instead of the open ward. Neal was still unwilling to release her to her rooms. She and he had already had that argument twice since the day she woke up. Raoul decided to give her that privacy as Neal rechecked the bandages that covered her torso.

He had witnessed the extent of her injuries last night when he had entered the building to check on her to find Neal struggling to change her bandages without waking her. Raoul had offered to help and had been shocked at how light she felt in his arms as Neal quickly cleaned off the seeping blood and applied a quick flash of green magic to her wounds. Raoul had been stunned.

Lounging in the chair by Neal's desk, he spun the mug of tea around on its base, watching the dark water swirl in its depths. This war was starting to wear on his soul. It was different than the immortals where good and evil, right and wrong, and the obvious choices stood out in black and white. This war with the Scanrans made Raoul's heart ache with the greed of it all.

They just wouldn't give up.

And it was costing both sides.

Looking up as Neal exited the room and closed the door half-way behind him, Raoul set the cup down and watched the young healer with knowing eyes. _She_ was wearing _him_ thin- he and Thalia both. Sighing, Raoul leaned back in his chair and crossed powerful arms over his chest, hiding a slight wince as newly healed ribs cracked.

Neal sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"How is she?" Raoul asked finally, breaking the silence with a different question than Neal had expected.

"Better. She's healing- it's just slow. Agonizingly and painfully slow." The young knight slumped into a chair and poured another mug of tea, hoping to renew some of the strength he had just dumped into Kel.

"She can't stay here" Raoul said, not asking it as a question but still searching for an answer.

Neal sighed again and tapped a finger on the desk top in a familiar marching rhythm. Looking into the commander's eyes, he tried to convey every aspect of the problem without words. He finally looked away and back down into his cup.

"No, she can't. She needs rest and a proper healer who is at full strength. She can't get that here or anywhere on the border" Neal told him flatly.

"Third and Sixth Company are returning to Corus in a week to replenish the ranks. I'm sending her with them" Raoul informed Neal, who simply nodded.

He had expected as much.

"You'll speak to Dom and let him know what needs to be done?" The commander asked as he stood to leave.

"Of course" Neal said quietly, "I'll write father and tell him she's coming."

Nodding his approval, Raoul patted Neal's shoulder as he left to speak to Wyldon about preparations.

* * *

Kel was sitting up in bed when Dom came to see her later. Her face was a mask of frustration as Neal kept his fingers around the cup that shook with her unsteady grip. Groaning in defeat and exhaustion as she finished, she lay back against the pillows as Neal stood and walked to the door.

Dom kept his eyes on Kel as he stopped Neal with a touch on the arm.

"You spoke with my Lord?" Neal asked him quietly, but not quietly enough as Kel narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Yes. He wants us to leave by the end of the week. Is it possible?" Dom watched Kel pick up on words that allowed her to follow the gist of the conversation.

Frustration turned to anger as he watched.

"It would be easier if she could ride, but I can't guarantee anything. She can't even sit up on her own" Neal pointed out, although he knew it was unnecessary.

The anger was turning back to frustration.

"I can deal with that part" Dom told him, "as long as it's safe. She won't agree to anything but riding, anyway."

"We'll see. If I get a few good nights of sleep, I may be able to get enough into her that you could leave on time."

Dom nodded and Neal left to wake Thalia for her shift in the infirmary. Turning to meet Kel's eyes, Dom saw that she was battling the tears that threatened to spill. She swiped at them angrily as he took a seat on the edge of the bed and reached for her hand.

She jerked it away.

"You knew you wouldn't be able to stay, Kel. Corus is the best answer" Dom said quietly, reaching for her hand again. This time she let him take it.

"I am tired of this" she hissed, although the full effect of it was lost as she broke into wracking coughs. When she finished, she sucked in air and continued in a raspy voice, "no one consults me on anything."

"I know, and we shouldn't do that. You're injured, not simple, but everyone is only considering your best interests" he insisted.

She just nodded and turned her head away, trying not to focus on the electrical pulse that seemed to be making her hand hum wherever his fingers grasped hers. Deep down, she knew she was expected to fight and argue and act like a stubborn mule. That's what they expected. But she was so tired and exhausted, that those things didn't matter.

As much as she hated it, she wanted to go home.

She was aware that Neal was beyond sleep deprivation. She could feel it every time he mustered enough strength to dull the pain from excruciating to bearable. She could feel it in Thalia. And she resented the part she played in making things more difficult.

"What are you afraid of?" Dom whispered as she clenched and unclenched her hand around his.

Turning her head back to look into his eyes, Kel gave him a look that told him that he should already know. Above anyone else, he should know what she hated and feared about the idea of being taken care of. He should know she resented being at the mercy and burden of her friends. And he did know.

He could read her gazes like a book.

"The ride to Corus will be tough" he agreed, "but once you're there, I'll help you gain back your strength. It's just leave, Kel. They're not sending you home for good. Your career isn't over."

She sighed and closed her eyes and Dom got up to leave as Neal entered. Leaning down, Dom helped Neal ease the pillows from behind her back and ease her onto the bed. Letting Neal pull the covers up, Dom met her eyes as he paused at the door before leaving.

"I'll come back tomorrow. We need to plan our route."

Kel recognized the peace offering and nodded her acceptance before drifting off into the dim, hazy warmth of Neal's magic.

* * *

_A/N: So I wanted to upload these two chapters together so no one thinks Im throwing things out of style or character. I don't want to give you simple fluff- I want fluff with an underlying meaning. Thanks for the thoughtful reviews. _

_-Jez_


	8. Chapter 8

**Unsaid Promises**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

She had led them to death.

Despite knowing differently, Kel kept telling herself it was her fault that her men were dead. All but five had been found on the battlefield, dead before they even had a chance with the healers. Dead without things completed, their lives extinguished like a match that refuses to relight a second time. She recalled her conversation with Dom and gave a sadistic laugh- she had known then what the odds of survival were.

And like her men, she had plunged into battle with things left undone.

Like him, she had lost courage and let things remain unsaid.

She wondered if her men had known that their final battle loomed ahead of them. Did they know death was coming in the downstroke of a Scanran blade? What had they left undone? Kel glanced at the stack of official looking parchment notices that rested on her lap, her good hand clenching the top one so hard that it would leave a wrinkle in the otherwise spotless document.

Canten's name was emblazoned in stark black ink, carefully scripted by one of the fort's many clerks. All the others would look the same, Kel knew. They would all contain the same date, the same explanation, and the same apologies. The dark blue crests would be identical seals of the Tortallan leaders.

She reread the notice again. Devoid of any personal thoughts or emotions, it officially told Canten's brother that he was dead. Killed in action under the employment of the realm. The King and his commanders were sending their regrets- along with his personal items and final months of payment- to console his family. At the bottom, Lord Wyldon of Cavall's slanted cursive witnessed the document's contents.

Kel stared at the line under her commander's where, as the soldier's immediate superior commander, she was expected to sign.

Thirty notices, identical in their contents, were expected to bear her acknowledgement of the price of war. She wondered about the lives her men had left behind that she never had the chance to learn about. She had known them for two days and yet their deaths would weigh on her mind forever.

Rubbing her temple with her fingers, Kel sighed at the beginnings of a headache. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare where war replaced men with pieces of parchment that were expected to dry a wife's tears. Where Neal and the other healers were rested and no longer resembled walking shadows of the people they normally were.

The nightmare where Dom's eyes, usually so carefully guarded around her during recent months, haunted her with the knowledge that those few hours of anxiety on the battlefield had sliced into his very soul. She felt his desperation each time he touched her- his unspoken fear that her death would have plunged him into a living nightmare.

Setting her jaw, Kel tried not to think of what she was doing as she dipped her quill in ink and added her signature under that of Lord Wyldon. She tried to ignore the slight shake to her hand as she uneasily gripped the quill just as she tried to ignore the tears that she furiously blinked away as she noted each name of the dead men.

When would the gods stop demanding human lives for the price of a realm's greed?

Outside her room, she heard a door open and footsteps that clicked on the stone floor of the infirmary in a rhythmic pattern of someone not in a hurry. Voices in the main room filtered through her partially opened door and Kel recognized the low baritone of Dom's voice, altering with Neal's.

She looked up when a shadow swept across the foot of her bed, dimming the light from the doorway. One of these days, she thought, she was going to make him brush his hair with an actual brush so that her fingers would stop itching to comb it out of his eyes. Wincing at the intimate thought, she saw him frown and his eyes turn darker than their normal cerulean hue.

"Neal is out here muttering that you're being stubborn and pig-headed. Care to explain?" Dom asked in a voice that clearly told her that anything requiring more effort than staring at the ceiling would be considered 'stubborn' and 'pig-headed'.

Kel didn't even bother mustering a glare to shoot in his direction as he leaned against the doorframe. Arguing took too much effort and caused Neal to mix up teas with unfamiliar and annoyingly fast working herbs that knocked her unconscious. She had learned that lesson when she asked to go back to her own rooms. Instead, she simply stared at Dom with a look of wariness.

Sighing, Dom straightened and moved to take a seat at the foot of the bed. Reaching over her bent knees, he took the stack of documents from her hand and skimmed their contents. Turning, he met her eyes with a look of reserved understanding.

"Their families deserve to know and they can't be sent without my signature" Kel explained, answering the unasked question in his gaze.

"You're wearing yourself out" he told her, plucking the quill from her hand as she scowled.

"I've only been awake for three hours, Dom, I'm not going to set some sort of record on sleep deprivation" she retorted, eyeing the quill that was deliberately kept out of reach.

"And yet, that is still the longest you've been conscious in more than a week" he shot back sarcastically.

Didn't she realize how fragile she was? Couldn't she see that it was killing Neal to reserve his magic instead of giving her a quick fix? That it was piercing him in the gut to be satisfied with the little progress she had made in four days? Sighing, Dom stood and began the pacing the room, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his breeches.

Kel watched him, expressionless, and flinched when he glared at her, aware of what she was doing.

When did he get so good at reading her?

"Dom, I'm not going to suddenly fall back into a coma" she said softly, breaking the tension that had caused the air to thicken. "I owe it to these men and their families to deliver the news of their deaths. They don't deserve to wait for weeks, wondering about their fate. Tired or not, I am going to sign the rest of those" Kel told him firmly, indicating the papers on the table across the room.

He stopped his pacing as her words cut through his thoughts. What would it have been like if he hadn't been here, fighting with her? If he had found out weeks or months later what had happened? It was a cruel day when the one person who had fought to keep them alive was forced to drive herself into the ground so that their death notices could be signed.

"Fine" he sighed, glaring at the smug grin she was giving him, "but as soon as you're finished, you're having a nap. Planning for Corus can wait until tomorrow."

Opening her mouth to protest, the look on his face stopped her and she dropped her eyes to her hand that was twisting the bed sheets. He was pleading with her to consider everyone else. To humor the people who cared if she exhausted herself.

"Fine" she agreed sullenly, reaching out a hand for the quill.

Taking up his post against the wall, Dom watched as she continued to sign the rest of the documents. He knew he was being overprotective, but he also knew she considered duty to come above her own needs. Arguing with her would do nothing except make her more difficult to negotiate with. He was considerate enough to hide the smirk that wanted to emerge on his lips when he saw her struggling to hold onto the quill.

He waited until she was finished before taking the writing tools away and helping her ease cramped and stiff muscles onto the mattress. Smoothing the blankets, he hesitated before dropping a chaste kiss on her temple.

Turning at the door to pull it closed, he saw she was already asleep.

* * *

Wyldon of Cavall rested worn and abused knuckles on the top of his desk and stood in a motion that was fairly fluid considering his age. Leaning over the desk, he closed his eyes and counted to ten- letting out his breath as he did so. Raising his head, he looked the young corporal in the eye.

The soldier flinched but didn't look away.

The news he bore was not his fault.

Repeating this to himself over and over as he studied the grain of the wood on the desktop, the Commander cursed the day King Maggur was born. He cursed the Scanran army and the Scanran war lords. Pounding his fists on the desk he turned again to look at the corporal that had been sent to him from Northwatch.

"General Vanget is sure of his sources? He is sure of the time frame?" Wyldon asked heatedly, insistent on verifying every aspect of the news.

"Yes, my Lord. He says it comes directly from Sir Myles of Olau's men on the other side of the border" the corporal insisted.

"Damn the Maggot!" cursed Wyldon just as a knock preceded the entrance of Lord Raoul.

"Hollyrose said you asked him to find me?" Raoul asked, looking the corporal up and down before asking, "Lad, you're in from Northwatch?"

The young man nodded and looked back at the former training master. Wyldon flicked his hand in dismissal.

"Find a meal in the mess, Corporal. Tell no one what we discussed" he ordered as the younger man bowed and hurried to leave the room. Turning to look into Raoul's worried gaze, Wyldon sighed and ran a hand over his bald pate. "Northwatch sent word that came through one of Myles' men. The Scanran Army is massing on the border between Northwatch and Mastiff."

"How long before they attack?" Raoul asked, his voice rumbling in his chest.

"The Corporal says Vanget is estimating another two days before they cross the Vassa, another day or two after that depending on their strategy. If they attack both forts, they will have to split. Vanget is recalling troops from the Southern Desert and the Eastern border forts. Tusaine is too preoccupied with their own Scanran border problems." Wyldon sighed and poured two cups of cider, absently handing one to Raoul who barely looked at it.

"And our orders?" he asked, matching the information to the map hanging over Wyldon's desk.

"We're to stay here. The harbors at Blue Harbor and Frasurlund have frozen over which has ended the raiding seasons on the coast. They are sending anyone they can as far as Steadfast where we are too wait for a need for reinforcements. He knows we're short on men" Wyldon followed Raoul's eyes to map and considered it for a moment.

"Is he sure they are aiming for Mastiff? It's less than a day's ride away. There's nothing stopping them from turning this way and they know we're vulnerable" Raoul wondered, sipping the cider.

Wyldon shook his head. Nothing in war was ever certain. All the training and skills in the world did nothing when faced with natural human tendencies to change direction. Experience had taught him to expect the unexpected. Prepare to be surprised. Having half the Scanran army return only weeks after the last attack would not surprise him. Gazing at Raoul, Wyldon knew that Raoul was the expert in unexpected occurrences and decisions.

"The fresh companies of Own should be here by tonight or early tomorrow. They sent a messenger ahead from New Hope. Silvermines and Hawthorne Glen are coming with them and we still have Hollyrose and King's Reach. If they are sending squads from Frasurlund, they probably include the Lioness and the Mindelan knights. I believe Kennan and Marti's Hill are there as well. We should be well manned if they do come calling." Raoul's voice resonated with calm and practicality.

"Our only problem is Keladry and your men" Wyldon pointed out. The change in Raoul's stance and demeanor changed drastically as he considered the problem of the incapacitated lady knight. "If they are going to leave, they need to do it before the roads are closed and sealed."

Raoul nodded stiffly, tracing the route Dom had mentioned he hoped to take. They would cut back to Mastiff and take the road south along the edges of Mindelan land and then through the heart of Naxen, Queenstown, and Goldenlake. They would bypass Masbolle by a league and follow the Olorun River to Corus. Dom wanted to avoid the coastal roads and Raoul agreed, knowing the weather would be harsher and less predictable. If they left tomorrow morning at first light, they would be clear of the declared battle zones by the end of the first day.

Setting the empty cider cup on Wyldon's desk, Raoul rubbed his hands together. Knuckles cracked as he clenched and unclenched rough hands.

"I'll inform Sergeant Domitan" Raoul told the fort's commander who was moving colored pins around the map to mark enemy positions and the news from Northwatch. Wyldon nodded, his mouth set in a thin line. "Queenscove is going to throw a fit."

"As much as it's going to kill him to do it, tell him to save as much magic as possible. If the Lioness isn't coming, we're going to need all the energy he has left. Masbolle will have to deal with her as best he can."

Raoul remained silent, his gut turning at the thought of sending his former squire, half dead and half healed on a five day journey to Corus without a healer. The Lord of Cavall sighed as he watched Raoul leave the office to issue orders.

Grudgingly, Wyldon admitted to himself that it wasn't just going to kill Neal and Raoul to send her out like that- it was killing him too.


	9. Chapter 9

**Unsaid Promises**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Chapter 9

The sky was clear with the stars still visible against the lightening dawn as the sun rose. Sunlight bounced and reflected off the buildings and battlements of Fort Steadfast, shadows melting away with the uneasy night. The air was cool with little hope of warming up and the leaves skipped and cart-wheeled across the crowded courtyard as orders were shouted and supplies loaded under the watchful gazes of commanders.

Dom ran his fingers through his hair and sighed as he surveyed the scene before him. Rubbing eyes that felt gritty with lack of sleep, he kept his place against the doorway of the stables as he directed supplies towards designated wagons. He could hear Wolset and Finn Smythesson calling for soldiers to mount up while Laurent led Dom's horse to the front of the forming column.

When Raoul had come to him last night and explained the need to take Kel early, Dom had outright refused an order for the first time. It had been irrational and insubordinate, but Raoul had let him throw a wine goblet and storm out of the office before returning a few minutes later with an apology. His commander never said anything about it, simply reminding him that they would have to limit the number of wagons, but Dom's blood still simmered with anger at the situation.

He didn't want to be the one causing her pain.

And this trip was going to do exactly that.

The Sergeant turned at someone's hand touching his shoulder. Neal, his eyes hooded with weeks of exhaustion and the stress of preparing Kel for a journey he knew shouldn't be happening, beckoned Dom to follow without a word. Pushing away from the door post, Dom followed Neal across the courtyard to the infirmary.

Inside the infirmary, the sounds of the courtyard were muffled so that one could only hear the murmur of voices. The sun had yet to reach the high set windows and only muted light filtered across the cots of the main room. Thalia was at the worktable, filling the saddle bags at her feet with the things her and Neal had decided Dom would need. She paused in her work for a moment to watch Dom and Neal enter Kel's room.

For what seemed like the millionth time since dinner last evening, Dom was reminded how fragile she was. Neal and Thalia had helped her dress for the trip in riding breeches, boots and her quilted jacket. While the Own would be riding in full armor, it wasn't an option for her. Dom assumed that Thalia had been the one to coil and pin her hair up and out of the way. Her injuries were hidden under the layers, with the exception of the broken hand which rested on her hip as she dozed on her side. Dom's eyes met Neal's.

"You'll be careful?" Neal asked in a voice laced with anguish, "you'll stop for help if you need it?" His fingers itched with restrained magic. He had orders.

"Of course" Dom told him, irritated that his cousin even had to ask.

Neal sighed and shrugged in apology, glancing towards the door when Thalia entered with the bags she had prepared. Neal took them with a slight nod and thanks.

"Everything we talked about is in these. You remember what I told you?" Neal waited for Dom to nod before continuing, "I drugged her earlier. It should get you as far as Mastiff before it wears off, then you're on your own."

"We'll send word from each stop" Dom assured him, taking a step toward the bed.

Neal backed away and let Dom lean down carefully ease Kel into his grip. Her eyes fluttered for a moment, flicking open to reveal blurry, unfocused pupils. She stared into Dom's dark blue eyes for a moment before letting her lids slide shut again.

Dom looked at Neal who shrugged and shook his head, letting him know it wasn't a problem. Lifting her gently off the bed, Dom nodded his head at Neal to lead the way to the waiting company of King's Own. Reaching the courtyard, Neal secured the saddlebags full of medical supplies to Dom's horse before taking Kel and letting Dom swing into the saddle. Leaning down, Dom accepted his burden from Neal.

The yard was silent as everyone watched the sergeant settle the Lady Knight in front of him, wrapping a strong arm around her waist and pulling the hood of her jacket up against the autumn morning air. Looking down, Dom saw Neal step back to allow Raoul close enough that only Dom could hear him.

"She's your responsibility, Sergeant" Raoul said gruffly.

"Good luck on the border, My Lord" Dom told him in return.

Raoul gave him a grin and patted the foot in the stirrup. Stepping back, he saluted his sergeant. Returning the gesture, Dom raised a hand and gave the call to move out. Horn blasts from the rear sounded on the clear, crisp air. Tightening his grip on Kel, Dom waited until the gates of the fort were behind them before resting his forehead on the top of her head that was nestled into his chest.

_Gods above, help me do this._

* * *

They met no trouble on the road to Mastiff. The weather stayed fair and they kept up a good speed. The men eased the tension by making jokes and quiet chitchat. Dom participated, his mind taking him away from the flow of conversation from time to time only to be brought back by a quick quip from Wolset or Laurent or Finn. He had sent scouts ahead to make sure the road was secure and had let the others drift out of position into a loose cluster with he and Kel at the center.

It was just after noon and the men had insisted they didn't need to stop, that it would be better to clear the battle roads before setting up camp, when Dom heard hoof beats in the distance. Calling a halt to the line, Dom sent a man to scout the road behind them, hoping it was Tortallan soldiers riding for the fort and not the remnants of a Scanran raiding party.

A few minutes later, horses flying Tortallan flags and standards appeared in Dom's line of vision, riding for the smaller group. Practiced eyes noted standards bearing the flags of Kennan, Mindelan and Conte along with looked to be Eighth Company. Even at a distance, Dom recognized the Crown Prince.

War spared no one.

It certainly hadn't spared them.

Dom's men spread out and reformed, leaving Dom in front to greet the arrivals. Prince Roald pulled his mount up short, causing the rest in his party to halt behind him. Cool, blue eyes swept past Dom to calculate the size of the party and the small number of wagons, trailing back to the sergeant in the lead and the Lady Knight he supported in his arms.

Roald knew she was injured or ill. That much was obvious by the fact she was asleep and riding with someone else. The paleness of her face and the protective arm around her waist confirmed his suspicions but the Prince decided that those questions were better spoken of in privacy and not on the open road.

"You're headed for Mastiff?" Roald asked, his voice even and restrained.

"Only to deliver messages to its commander, Highness. We hope to be on Naxen lands by nightfall" Dom replied, noting that a man bearing the Mindelan Owl had maneuvered his horse to a position beside Roald, opposite the position Cleon of Kennan had already taken.

"Lord Raoul has ordered you to Corus?" Roald asked, sounding curious yet hesitant to know the answer.

"Along with my Lord Wyldon. They plan to seal the roads once the troops from Frasurlund and Blue Harbor arrive. They felt it necessary to send her home before the next attack came." Dom watched as Roald's eyes flicked from Kel's pale face, half hidden by the hood, to Dom's set jaw.

"We'll ride with you. We have orders to report to Mastiff before heading to Fort Steadfast" he rushed when Dom opened his mouth to argue that he knew what their orders were. "First Company is meeting us there and accompanying us back to Steadfast. We will ride with you that far and," with this he leaned in so only Dom could hear, "you can tell me why Keladry looks like death rejected her."

_Because it did reject her, thank the gods_, Dom thought to himself but simply offered Roald a terse nod before signaling the men under his command to fall into place.

Letting Roald and Cleon take the lead, Dom slid his horse into place between Wolset and the Mindelan knight who waited only mere moments before introducing himself as Inness of Mindelan, Kel's older brother. Dom waited for the onslaught of questions he expected, but they never came. Roald stayed silent up front, only speaking minimally to Cleon when the latter knight continued to shoot hostile and worried looks behind him.

Gently shifting Kel in the saddle, Dom adjusted his grip on the reins. A question from Wolset directed his attention away from his own discomfort.

"How much longer is she going to stay that compliant?" Wolset repeated quietly, looking up front when he noticed that the Prince had heard him.

"Until we reach Mastiff, by Neal's estimation" Dom answered softly, brushing a hand against her forehead.

Roald looked as if he was going to break the silence but he closed his mouth instead, and turned his attention back to Cleon and the road.

* * *

The first thing Kel was aware of was the metallic taste of Neal's potion in her mouth.

Her scattered and flighty thoughts swirled around her brain like the rocking motion she had repeatedly experienced on the ships around the Yamanis Islands. Somewhere in the back of her mind, instinct kicked in and she fought the rising nausea in her stomach. Forcing fragments of thought to bind together into a coherent, conscious will to think, she became aware that the rocking motion affected more than her head.

Keeping her eyes closed until even the blackened patterns behind her eyelids stopped dancing, Kel felt herself shift in a vague attempt to find comfort. Something that felt like steel constricted around her middle and a voice sounded in her ear. She struggled to focus on the voice but the web of sleep spun and continued to pull her under as the drugs fought to maintain control.

For a few minutes, Kel was suspended between consciousness and numbed comfort.

Then the last of the drug was stripped from her veins.

The pain was whitehot as it ripped through her chest. In the previous days, she had learned to ignore the throbbing in her hand as the bones knit themselves together without magic, but the pain in her shoulder and chest remained a steady companion in consciousness. Gasping, she felt the wound at her back pull and she bit back a cry as the rocking motion stopped.

Voices rang out around her as the line halted. Cool hands pushed back her hood and were held against her forehead, rubbing circles along her temple to calm her as another set of hands fumbled with the buttons on her jacket. Calloused hands ran along the edges of her bandages and Kel flinched as she forced her eyes open.

She looked into the worried eyes of Prince Roald of Conte.

Confusion overwhelmed her.

Roald turned back to his inspection, feeling with trained hands along her injuries. When Dom mentioned her back, Roald frowned and gently shifted her so he could see. He hissed as he processed each wound and felt her tense under his touch.

"Gods Kel, what did they do to you?" Roald whispered as he withdrew his hands and rebuttoned her jacket.

"To be fair" Kel replied in a hoarse voice, "I was blocking their way."

A laugh behind her made her look up, grimacing as she did so. Dom met her gaze and shook his head with amusement laced with concern. She noted the flash of apology that shot across his face and was confused for a moment before his arms around her waist tightened and lifted her so she was properly astride the saddle.

She almost screamed in pain and regret darkened Dom's features before he hid it behind a mask. When the pain had returned to its normal burning, Kel took a slow breath and let it out.

"Where are we? Why is Roald here?" She tried to sit up to see her surroundings but found her muscles liquefied and unresponsive.

"We're a few miles from Mastiff. We met his Highness on the road with the knights and Own heading to Steadfast." Dom saw her process his answer and then saw the question in her eyes as she remembered Raoul's mention of knights being called in. "Inness is here, with Kennan. They're riding as far as Mastiff with us."

"Where?" she croaked, once again trying to lean away from Dom's protective chest.

"Right here, little sister" her brother said lightly, entering her line of vision. He flashed her a smile when she simply acknowledged his presence with a nod, not trusting her voice.

"Do you want me to give you something for the pain?" Dom asked gently in her ear.

"No" she answered through gritted teeth. "Do you have water?"

A flask was touched to her lips and Kel felt her cheeks burn pink as Dom held it for her. She noted how her brother turned away and Roald's eyes flashed with anger. She tried to assure him with a smile but ended up coughing. Dom replaced the flask and pressed her head to his chest as the coughs gave way to shallow heaves and breaths.

"I can give you something" he insisted but she shook her head and let her eyes close.

Pulling her hood back up, Dom reached for the reins of his mount and called the order down the line. Feeling Kel's breath brush against his throat, Dom let her slip back into semi consciousness.

In the distance, he could see the flags of Fort Mastiff.

* * *

The stop at Mastiff was brief. As the men of the Own dismounted and scattered around the courtyard in order to stretch cramped muscles, Dom handed Kel down to her brother's waiting arms. Sliding from the saddle, Dom waited for Roald and Inness to leave the busy yard before searching out the Fort's commander. After giving the messages he had been charged with, he asked a stable boy to show him where the Lady Knight rested.

Inness had placed her on the bed in Roald's prepared rooms and had left in search of food. Dom met him exiting the mess on his way to the Prince's rooms. The older knight carried a tray of thick stew and a kettle that was still sending steam into the cool air. He frowned when Dom shook his head at the food.

"She won't be able to eat that" Dom told him gently, pausing for a moment to send a soldier in search of his saddle bags.

"By the looks of things she hasn't eaten in days" Inness answered rudely.

"She tried yesterday but it was unsuccessful. The drugs the healers are pumping her full of have killed her appetite and she's nauseated. That's why they're sending her to Corus. She's drained Neal to exhaustion." Dom lowered his voice as they reached the door and softly swung it open.

Kel turned her head toward the door as they entered, struggling to sit up until Roald pushed her back down. She scowled at him but Dom noticed the darkness of her eyes and how she didn't flinch with the burst of sunlight from the door. He cast a glance at Roald and raised an eyebrow.

"What did you give her?" he asked, eyeing the open saddle bags at the foot of the bed.

"I found the vervain and poppy pouches in your bags. I was waiting for you to return before I sent her back to sleep" Roald answered calmly from the chair beside the bed.

"You can do that?"

"It's one of the first healing spells Alanna taught me as a boy. If I had more training I would attempt to heal some of her wounds, but they're more complex than what I know." Roald met Dom's eyes and saw the truth there. That when he had joked about death rejecting her, he had touched live embers. "She's been run through, that much I can tell, but the wound at her back…."

"A mace" Dom replied flatly and the Prince's face paled. "It didn't pierce the armor but Neal spent hours digging links of mail out of her back."

"He was blonde." Everyone looked at Kel who looked as if she was trying to remember something important. Dom grinned and sat on the edge of the bed. He was used to her childlike obsevations when she was drugged.

"Protector, they were all blonde" he joked softly as her drug clouded mind tried to determine if he was teasing or criticizing.

"I told you not to call me that" she said tightly.

"Yes, you did. But after you wake up you won't remember so there's no harm." Dom winked at her before Roald's sapphire magic sparkled around the hand that held hers and her eyes slid shut.

Scooping her up off the bed, Dom made his way to the waiting men in the courtyard. Once settled in the saddle with Kel in front of him, he bade goodbye to the Prince and Inness. He momentarily wondered where Cleon had disappeared to but something close to petty satisfaction was glad he had stayed away.

Leaving Mastiff behind them, the men turned their horses towards the main road south and followed it until just before the sun sunk below the trees. Turning off the main road, Dom halted the group just outside the gates of Windsgrace.

They had crossed the boundaries into Naxen.

For the moment, they could ignore the war.

* * *

_A/N: It has been awhile since I updated, which is sad because most of the chapter has been written for weeks, but there will be another one up by the end of the day. Keep up your amazing reviews and support and hopefully I can have it finished within the next couple of weeks. School be damned!_

_-Jez_


	10. Chapter 10

**Unsaid Promises**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Chapter 10

Kel awoke clearheaded and warm. Snuggling into the blankets that weighted her to the bed, she used her Yamani training to push back the dull throbbing of her hurts. She vaguely remembered arriving at Windsgrace on the edge of the Naxen boundary and listening as Dom gave the order for Third Company to break camp just outside the gates. He had then led his horse through the quiet streets of the town in search of lodgings for himself and Kel. She smiled at the hazy memory of him tucking her in after one of the serving girls had helped her ready for bed.

A soft clatter of porcelain interrupted her focus and she cracked an eye to see a stranger set a kettle and a pair of tea cups on the small table by the window. Familiar footsteps and the heavy sound of boots on the wooden floor came closer and she waited for Dom to speak to the maid in hushed tones before the discomfort in her back forced her to shift on the bed. The young servant curtsied and scurried from the room as Dom smoothed the blankets before taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

The two watched each other as the minutes passed in comfortable silence. Kel couldn't pick one specific moment when things had changed between them. She no longer saw him as Neal's cousin or another friend. He was the one who made her laugh and could see past her mask. He was the first one she looked for in the mess hall and the name she listened for when news came into New Hope. He knew when to treat her as a knight and when to see her as a woman. She bit her lip as she realized she was in love with him.

Starring into his eyes, she considered the effect of them to be the equivalent of drugs.

She no longer felt anchored to earth.

His hand reached out to cup her chin, sliding along her cheek before brushing her hair out of her eyes. The sound of footsteps on the stairs outside the door and a sharp knock fractured the moment and Dom's hand pulled back as if he had grasped live coals. She grinned recklessly at him as a blush crept up his neck.

She made him nervous.

And she had no idea.

He grinned back at her as two servants entered the room carrying a large basin of water which they poured into the small tub waiting in the corner of the room. Kel raised an eyebrow at Dom.

"Mistress Grebe has offered to help you bathe and then redress your wounds. The men are downstairs enjoying breakfast. The mistress will send for me when you're finished and we'll see if we can get some nourishment into you before we take to the road again" Dom explained as he rose from the bed.

Kel nodded and watched him leave the room, closing the door behind him. It took a serving girl and the mistress of the inn to help her into the tub. When she was finished, they gently wrapped her in towels and helped her back to the bed where salve and bandages were reapplied. Kel pretended not see the looks of horror that passed over the women's faces at the sight of her injuries. When she was dressed again, the younger girl expertly pulled a brush through her hair and braided it into one long plait that reached between her shoulder blades.

A quick rap at the door announced Dom's return and the mistress pulled it open and let him enter with a bowl of what smelled like broth. Kel quietly thanked the women as they bundled up the used linens and left. Kel rolled her eyes as Dom sat opposite her on the bed and began swirling the spoon through the broth before lifting the spoon to her lips.

"I thought we agreed before we left Steadfast that I was capable of holding a spoon" she sighed, opening her mouth and accepting the watered down liquid. She wrinkled her nose at the taste.

"It's not exactly breakfast food. The cook only put it on the stove at daybreak" Dom told her, understanding her reaction. It was almost tasteless. "And if you want to try the spoon, that's fine." He gave her the spoon and repositioned the bowl so she could reach.

They sat in silence for several minutes with only the sound of the spoon hitting the bowl mingling with the echo of horses and men in the yard below her window. When she had finished, Dom set it aside. Watching her face, he weighed his next question.

"How do you feel?" he asked gently, listening for a hesitation in her answer. She narrowed her eyes, seeing the sideways glance he gave the bags full of supplies.

"Awake" she retorted, hoping he would put Neal's demands aside and listen to her. He let a grin play across his features before sobering up.

"Kel, you know what Neal said" Dom sighed, heaving himself to his feet and running fingers through his hair. Kel watched it fall back into his face before looking into his eyes again. Dom recognized the look on her face. "How bad is the pain?" he asked, resigned.

She grinned, knowing he was about to give in.

"Tolerable. Honestly" she insisted.

Dom looked her over. Her cheeks held more color than they had the past few days and she was sitting up by herself with no pillows supporting her. More important to him, she was coherent and that would disappear with the drugs. He had missed her and that was what broke his resolve.

"Do you promise to tell me if you want to stop?" he asked, seeing her smile light up her face. When she said yes, he sighed and gave her a nod of agreement.

Going to the landing outside her door, he called for someone to take their bags to the waiting horses. When a young boy that Dom had recognized from the kitchens hurried to deliver their bags to the wagons, Dom turned to help Kel into her boots and jacket. When she was ready, Dom swung her up into his arms and carried her downstairs and out to the courtyard.

Wolset called a greeting that Kel decided was slightly too energetic for the early morning as Qasim handed her up to Dom. Settling back into the woollen folds of Dom's cloak, Kel shifted and wriggled until she found a comfortable position.

Closing her eyes against the sympathetic stares of the men, Kel felt a shiver go through her and Dom lifted her hood up in response. Feeling the steel of his arm guards wrap around her waist and hold her to him, Kel gave in to sleep before they had left the gates.

Dom smiled and turned his attention to the conversation happening among his men.

* * *

Good fortune held out for the rest of the day and into the next. The roads stayed clear of traffic and the weather had held despite the darkening clouds overhead. The men at the inn in Dovesfield, where they had sought shelter on their second night, had predicted snow but the skies had been clear when the sun rose and Dom and his men had opted to forge ahead on schedule.

Now Dom was thinking that in his rush to reach Corus, he had failed to judge the situation properly. Logic seemed to abandon him where Kel was concerned. On instinct he tugged the blankets around her tighter, seeing her murmur in her sleep. Wind whipped the group harshly, pulling on the manes of the horses and finding gaps beneath armour as tiny white flakes of snow began falling.

Qasim pulled his horse up beside and Dom and watched the sergeant think. The tight line of his jaw gave away his worry and Qasim knew he was factoring in the distance before they reached the next town. Finally glancing at the Bahzir, Dom let the question hang unanswered between them.

"The next village on the main road is about forty miles" Qasim told him. "We could send scouts down the secondary roads, but this close to the mountain reaches means we could get snowed in."

"You think we should keep going?" Dom inquired, still thinking.

"I do, Sergeant. They're only flurries for now. As long as we reach Bears Meadow before night fall we should be fine. The inn keeper back yonder only mentioned light snow. It's not predicted to get violent." Qasim said as he dug a map out from under his cloak. Using a finger, he followed their route between Dovesfield and Bears Meadow. "If we have to we can stop and make camp where the river runs off the mountain, but I think we all agree it would be better to have the Lady Knight inside."

Dom merely nodded and touched Kel's cheek. It was warm and he relaxed slightly. She had been exhausted that morning when they left the town and they had only been on the road for an hour before Dom had felt her tense with pain. She had drank the medicated tea without complaint and had yet to waken despite it being past noon.

Less than hour after his conversation with Qasim, Dom noted how the wind had picked up and where scattered flakes had melted as soon as the fell, they now began accumulating on the edges of the roads and the branches of trees. Snow had reached the north in the days following the battle, but Dom and Raoul had hoped that it would be weeks before it reached the south-east side of the mountains of Goldenlake and Queensgrace. Luck was not with them and here they were in the midst of an early winter snowstorm with an injured knight and minimal supplies.

Calling the halt, Dom turned his horse so that the wind was at his back in an effort to protect Kel. The men ranged around him in a tight circle, mimicking his efforts. They recognized the tense way he gripped the reins and offered no witty comment.

"I need men to ride ahead and check the roads. If they are clear enough to ride through untroubled then keep going until you reach the next town and inquire for lodgings. Take whatever they offer and tell them to expect us. See if you can find a healer, just in case." Dom waited for the murmurs to quiet before continuing. "If you encounter problems on the roads or the visibility gets worse, turn around and come back. If that's the case, we will find shelter and sit it out."

Addressing five of the men, he sent them ahead before reorganizing the lines to allow for a swifter speed. Watching the scouts vanish into the folds of swirling white, Dom nudged his horse forward again.

* * *

Three of the scouts returned just over an hour later. They had reached the river that ran from the mountains just in time to find a group of woodsmen from Bears Meadow trying to move a fallen tree that blocked the bridge. The men of the Own had remained to try and help them move it, only to find that the bridge had shifted and nothing more than a single man could cross without fear of it giving way.

Two of the men had stayed with the woodsmen who knew of an abandoned logger's cabin just off the road. They offered to share the cabin and the surrounding clearing with the travelling party in return for help with the bridge when the weather cleared. Dom groaned when he heard the news but thanked the men for finding shelter. Following the scouts off the main road and onto a logging trail, he sighed in relief when smoke through the trees signalled warmth, food and shelter.

Discreetly removing a glove and laying his bare hand against Kel's cheek and forehead, he winced at the warmth. Earlier he had taken it for a sign of warmth, glad that she hadn't been feeling the wind and cold. Now he feared what it indicated.

A chill or infection, Neal had warned him.

Dom cursed and caught Wolset's attention.

"Is it normal for Neal's medicines to last that long?' Wolset asked quietly, noting the flush on Kel's cheeks and calculating that she had been asleep for more than eight hours. She was unnaturally still.

"It's not his medicines" Dom said through gritted teeth as the trees thinned and a clearing appeared in front of them.

He saw Wolset's worried look as they halted in front of a log cabin that wafted warmth. The men and woodsmen who had been waiting called over the wind to direct horses towards a hastily erected shelter that was to act as a stable. Qasim slid from the saddle and took Kel from Dom who was telling Wolset to find someone to take their horses and find their bags. Qasim's hand brushed Kel's face as he tried to pull her hood tight against the snow.

"Dom, she's-" he started when he felt the heat coming from her.

"I know" Dom replied in a tight voice, taking her from his friend. "Situate the men and then come find us."

He didn't wait for Qasim's nod before taking the bags Wolset had found and crossing the snow covered ground to the door that one of the townsmen held open for him. The heat inside hit him first but Dom made little note of it before following the man to a small room at the back where a fire already blazed.

Shutting the door, he and Wolset stripped Kel of her boots and jacket before placing her beneath the piles of blankets on the bed. Wolset left to find a kettle while Dom checked and rechecked her bandages. The one on the back of her shoulder where the sword had exited was oozing blood but they appeared clear of infection. Which left the fever unexplained except for a chill.

Dom wanted to kick himself for letting that happen.

Replacing the blankets, he restocked the fireplace and waited for Wolset to return with the tea.

The next time Raoul gave them leave, Dom was going to argue in favor of the desert.

* * *

_A/N: So two chapters in one day...and maybe another tomorrow depending on feedback. For those of you rolling your eyes at the drama, don't worry..._

_-Jez_


	11. Chapter 11

**Unsaid Promises**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Flames painted the thick logged walls and blankets on the bed with dancing patterns of red and gold. They leapt and flickered within the small fireplace that the men had continuously kept stocked and stoked, warming the room until anyone who entered and remained for any length of time was forced to strip down a simple cotton shirt. The snap of frozen logs was mingled with the slightly uneven breaths of the figure in the bed.

From beyond the doorway, the sound of quiet talk and mugs being refilled could be heard. The main room was relatively dark, with the only light coming from the dying coals of a larger fire and the flicker from the open door of the Lady Knight's room. The furniture had been stacked and pushed against the far wall, creating enough space on the floor for the men of the Own and Bears Meadow to sleep, despite being heavily cramped.

Outside the wind whistled through pine shutters and a campfire was dying down after the final kettle of tea had been boiled. The snow had slowed to a few trailing flakes that stood out against the clear stars of the black sky. The solitary figure crouched beside the fire, watching the embers blacken and smoke, didn't notice the biting cold.

His thoughts lingered elsewhere.

His blue eyes reflected the light as he stirred the tea in his mug and took a final swig before tossing the remainder into the snow, scarring its perfection. Trudging across the short distance to the cabin, he shouldered open the door and slipped inside quickly before a gust of wind could intrude. Placing his mug on the pile of dishes for one of the younger solders to clean in the morning, he shrugged out of his damp cloak and jacket.

The men playing cards in the barely lit corner, amidst their slumbering companions, looked up as their leader came in from the cold. The light lit the angles and valleys of their faces, casting an unnatural glow. One of them stood from his place and picked his ways over bodies, coming close enough that their voices couldn't be heard.

"You should get some rest before the sun rises" Wolset told Dom, offering to refill his mug.

Dom shook his head and began searching for his tightly packed bedroll. Wolset, guessing what he was looking for, pointed towards Kel's room. Dom gave him a weak smile in thanks before making his way to the door.

"Sergeant?" Wolset called and Dom looked back, "she's fine. It wasn't your fault."

Dom just turned back and ducked through the door.

He woke Qasim who had been dozing in front of the fire and sent him to the other room to continue his sleep.

Once alone, he checked on Kel. The fever had raged past sunset, only to dwindle under Dom and Qasim's constant attention. She was still warm to the touch but her hands were ice cold. At least her breathing was easier even if it had left her with a cough. The tendrils of hair that had escaped her braid were plastered to her forehead in tiny wisps and he pushed them back, causing her to stir.

"Dom?" she asked, seeking to find him in the shadows.

"Right here" he said softly, taking a seat on the bed and leaning over her. He grabbed the cloth that lay soaking in a basin beside her.

"Qasim said you were brooding" she whispered, eyelids drooping and Dom chuckled. Gently, he sponged at the rosy splotches on her cheeks.

"I was outside, checking on the sentries and cooling off. This room is like the bath houses in Corus" he told her.

"You should sleep" she murmured, repeating his men's words. He massaged circles on the back of her good hand. She turned her head toward him and watched his face. "They said there's a bridge to rebuild."

"There's also a tree in the way. Don't worry, I'll sleep. My bedroll is at the foot of the bed, if you need anything. Sunrise is still hours off" he sat up, making to stand.

Her good hand reached out for his wrist and finding it, she rubbed familiar calluses. He watched as emotions struggled and warred across her face, enhanced by the uneven light. He tipped her chin up and she looked away.

"What is it?" he asked gently.

"I keep seeing them. Falling around me. And the Stormwings, even though I know I didn't see any that day. They would have come after. But I still see them falling." She looked up with haunted eyes and Dom remembered Neal saying something about nightmares. Dom understood nightmares- his were haunted with her being dead. "Can you stay up here?"

He hesitated. Not because he didn't want to because the gods knew how much restraint he was implying on himself right now, but because what he wanted to be was not what she needed right now. Right now she wanted a solid presence and he represented reliability and security. Something like fire burned in his chest at the thought.

Anything more than trust and friendship would have to wait.

"Of course" he said in hoarse voice.

Stepping out of his boots and sliding the tunic over his head, he rested his sword belt over the back of the one chair in the room and placed his boots in front of the fire before taking his bedroll off the floor and adding the extra layers to her quilts. Helping her move over, he slipped beneath the blankets before she could feel the cold. He gripped her icy fingers in his bigger ones and felt her bury her face in his collarbone.

If anyone asked, he wouldn't be lying when he said she had been cold on her own.

If they questioned it further, she wouldn't be lying if she said that she slept better than past nights.

* * *

Her mask was failing her. The impenetrable shield that had served her through the torture of her Page years, the taunts of her Squire years and had been readily called just yesterday- was nonexistent. Struggling to keep the tears of frustration and helplessness that were clouding her eyes from falling, she brought her knees to her chest and buried her face in her arms.

She didn't even feel the pull of healing scabs and wounds.

She waited for the sound of retreating footsteps, but they never came.

She lifted her head and looked at the blurry outline of the man who stood facing the fire with his back to her. Light glinted off the contours of his face and she knew without wiping her eyes that his face held none of the laughter she loved. That it would be void of humor and good nature. She couldn't see the pain that gathered behind lowered eyes.

Choking back a sob, she reached beside her for the mug of water that he had brought to her earlier. Taking a sip with hands that shook with fury and desperation, she tried to calm herself. She tried to smooth her features into the flawless, emotionless mask that they had been schooled to since childhood. An escaping tear ruined her attempt and she threw her mug at the wall with all her remaining strength.

The sound of shattering ceramic brought Dom's eyes up from the flames he had been watching. Looking at the stain of water on the closed door and following the drips down the door to the floor where the pieces of mug lay broken on the floor, he then silently looked over his shoulder at the girl on the bed. Remnants of fever burned in her eyes and noted the shallowness of her breath. He had never seen her lose control and it was almost as shocking than seeing her helpless.

Dom watched as she fought to slide her emotion beneath her mask.

He saw her trying to override raw emotion with logic.

He opened his mouth to try again, but she saw him and shook her head furiously. Uncurling her legs, she cradled her busted hand in her lap as she moved backwards on the bed. Away from him.

Voices in the main room grew louder as the men from the night watch woke their comrades. Orders and announcements of morning duties were given out and dishes could be heard rattling as they roused from exhausted sleep. Kel's eyes watched the door for a moment before looking up when Dom came towards her.

"Kel-" he tried again, kneeling on the floor in front of her.

"What will they think?" she choked out. "They're men, Dom, and worthy and loyal men or not, they will know."

"Keladry" Dom said sternly and saw her flinch at the use of her full name, "they can think what they want. You have lived your life knowing what people say behind your back and never once have you let them know it bothers you. Give them some credit- they consider you their responsibility and they will turn a blind eye to what circumstances have forced upon us."

Kel stared past him, to the dying embers of the fire while light filtered through the barred and shuttered window. She shivered against the draft and watched the warring emotions in his eyes as he pulled the blankets around her thinly clad shoulders. The irony glinted in his eyes and she scowled.

"The bandages need to be changed and you need to get dressed. I refuse to let you get pneumonia on top of everything- last night was bad enough" Dom told her, watching her examine the nails on one hand.

"Why does it seem that this trip will strip me of every bit of dignity I possess?" she asked softly and he chuckled before tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"It makes us stronger" he insisted, "learning to let others help. It makes us human to know that invincibility is a component only the gods possess."

Biting her lip, she gave him a nod and he stood to retrieve the bags by the fire. Sitting beside her on the bed, he helped as little as possible while she shrugged out of the cotton shirt she had worn to bed and Dom didn't miss the blush the rose on her cheeks as she held the quilt to her chest and turned to give him full access to her back. The sight of her injuries was not new to him, but that didn't change his reaction each time he was faced with them.

The back of her right shoulder was clean of infection and was sealing nicely. Neal hadn't been able to heal it completely or even put enough magic into it to form a scab, but it had healed some on its own since they left Steadfast. The deep bruising around it looked more painful than the rest. Dom changed that opinion when he moved to her lower back. The mace had done some nasty work, having enough force behind it to drive her mail and armor into the wound. It looked raw and messy and was slow to heal.

Dom treated the front of her shoulder and chest in silence as Kel closed her eyes and wished she were anywhere else with him than here. That his seeing this much of her was under any other circumstance. Clutching the quilt to her chest, she flinched at the cool touch of his fingers and the healing balm as he massaged it into the wound and surrounding tissue. When he was finished, he gripped her chin and waited for her to open her eyes.

When she did, she was falling into blue that was so intense with restrained emotion that she knew the crackling in the air was not the embers.

It occurred to her that his hand was still on her face.

She reached up to push back the hair that was obscuring his eyes and his smile widened with memory of the last time she did that. She remembered too as her gaze drifted to his mouth and how she had memorized it that night on the battlements before the attack.

"You didn't tell me that night" she whispered, aware of how his arm was touching her bare skin. "You let me go and you knew."

The silence stretched on and for an agonizing moment she thought that perhaps she had misread the look in his eyes. Maybe she had gotten it wrong.

"I know." It was all they had time for but all they needed to hear.

A knock sounded at the door and Wolset growled from the other side, inquiring whether Dom had woken Kel yet. Dom gave him a rude answer about his manners before ordering him to find her breakfast. Helping her dress warmly, he passed her her boots before taking the brush from her hand and efficiently twining her hair into a knot. He winked at her surprised look when he had finished and she was startled when he pressed a kiss to her temple before leaving the room to find breakfast.

She watched him go before returning to her struggle with her boots.

* * *

The ride to the Bears Meadow Bridge was quick without the wind and snow. Although drifts still crossed the road and the boughs of the pine trees dumped collected snow on the heads of unsuspecting riders, the air was warmer than the previous day and the sky was clear. Dom called the halt when the bridge came into view.

The tree that his scouts had tried to move before lay half across the road, still in the way of travelers but leaving the bridge revealed. The bridge itself looked stable except for the smashed railing on one side and darker marks where the tree had gouged the wood. One of the woodsmen dismounted and approached the crossing, walking to the center and grabbing a railing before shifting his weight and bouncing. Kel heard Dom groan when they saw the bridge shift under the minimal movement. She wanted to tell him that she felt his frustration but she knew it would be for different reasons.

She would have to sit back and let them work without her.

Dom knew it would mean an extra night on the road if it took as long as he thought.

A memory came to him and he chuckled, drawing the attention of both Kel and the men on either side of them. Wolset eyed his sergeant, wondering what the secret joke was. Dom winked and leaned down to Kel's ear.

"At least I won't have to worry about you damaging yourself with a hammer" he said to her, although it carried over the wind.

The men of Third Company laughed, remembering Kel's unwelcome attempts at carpentry. She scowled and elbowed Dom in the stomach.

"Are you trying to injure me so I can keep you company?" he joked, his breath warm on her neck.

"No, but if you were to give me a hammer, we could try" she retorted, looking up at him.

"Good try, Lady Knight" he told her, shifting so he could hand her down to Wolset.

She continued to grumble under her breath as Dom dismounted behind her and followed Wolset to one of the wagons where she was deposited amongst the furs and blankets already waiting. Tucking blankets around her shoulders and handing her a thermos filled with tea, he squeezed her knee before joining his men and the woodsmen in chopping up the fallen tree to clear the way.

Less than an hour later, Kel was fighting heavy eyelids and cursing herself for believing Dom would let her off without any drugs or potions. He had tried earlier to hide the willowbark in her tea to combat the fever but she had smelled it. Apparently he had found something she wouldn't recognize, she thought ruefully before falling asleep under the heavy blankets to the sound of saws and axes.

* * *

It was just past noon when Dom glanced at the sun and called for a break. The men let out a weak cheer as they set aside their axes and stepped over the few remaining pieces of the tree. Picking up his jacket from where he had tossed laid it when it got too warm, Dom shrugged it on and made his way past the picketed horses to the wagons.

Gripping the edge of the wagon where had left Kel, he hoisted himself up and landed softly on the blankets that had been laid out between saddle bags and supplies. Gently avoiding any lumps that could be body parts, he pulled the blankets away from her face and smiled when he saw her sleeping. A quick touch of his bare hand on her forehead and he could tell the tea had worked. She murmured and flinched at a gust of wind and he tightly tucked the blankets around her again before returning to the bridge.

* * *

The sky was darker when Kel awoke. Propping herself up and locating the moon and stars rising in the east, she judged it to be less than an hour before twilight. Shedding the blankets that had been wrapped around her shoulders, she shivered as her breath appeared on the air. She could hear voices coming from the direction of the river. Pushing her hood back, she tried to pull herself up against the edge of the wagon and the bags of supplies. She could make out the shadows ranging along both sides of the water.

She jumped when someone laughed behind her.

Turning, she scowled when she met Dom's laughing eyes. He stood on the ground with his elbows resting on the floor of the wagon and when he got her attention he beckoned her forward. Sitting on the edge of the wagon, she was only slightly taller than he.

"I was hoping you'd be awake" he said to her and laughed when she rolled her eyes, "We need another engineering opinion at the bridge."

"I knew it would only be a matter of time before you realized you were hopeless without me" she sighed dramatically.

Dom chuckled and helped her from the wagon, letting her lean on him while he grabbed one of the warmer blankets from the floor. She wobbled on unsteady feet as he wrapped it around her. She stopped him before he could pick her up and turned in his embrace to look him in the face.

"I can walk" she insisted. "I got from the bedroom to the front door this morning." He grinned at how impressed she sounded and shook his head with humor.

"Not on this mess, you're not. There's melting snow and mud and now it's starting to freeze again" he explained as he hoisted her up. "You can show off at the inn when we make it to the town."

She didn't answer because they were at the end of the road where it would enter the bridge. Setting her down in front of him and pulling the blanket back into place, Dom held her steady while he explained the problem and she scanned the bridge with practiced eyes.

Kel was familiar with the construction of bridges after first-handedly inspecting the ones that had protected first Haven and now New Hope. Traveling with the Own had also given her a broad education seeing how many times it was their squads who brought the wagons full of supplies when rivers washed out crossings. Now she listened as Dom told her how they had rebuilt the supports that grounded the bridge but that it continued to shift under more weight than a single horse.

"You missed a support beam" she told him, pointing. "Maybe it was already gone or destroyed before the tree came down but that would explain why more stress would cause it to shift."

She indicated the area under the bridge where in the failing light it was difficult to see the noticeable gap. The one of the other side looked solid enough and one of the woodsmen who had gone down the bank at Kel's words agreed with.

"The lady is right. Ye wouldn't have known but we shoulda" he apologized in a thick mountain accent. Kel suspected Bears Meadow was not his native town. "'Tis easy to fix now if yer men are brave enough to bare the water."

Dom brushed the apology off and mentioned his only wish was a hot meal. The men agreed and while Dom placed Kel on a pile of the men's cloaks and jackets with her blankets and a fur lined cloak donated by one of the woodsmen, they set to work. It was well past sunset when they finished and sent the first of the horses over without problem.

A cheer rose as the last wagon crossed the bridge and the group began the chilly trudge towards the town of Bears Meadow. Kel dozed against Dom's chest, tucked inside his cloak, listening to the sound of his heartbeat competing with hers. When they reached the town gates, the sentries opened up with grumbling complaints when they saw the men who kept the Own company. Kel watched buildings and homes slide past tired eyes as the weary group made for the inn that their new friends had recommended.

She barely remembered letting Dom undress her enough for bed and slide her beneath the sheets before heading downstairs for a hot meal. Burrowing into the warm sheets and cushions, she only woke for a moment when Dom entered the room and shut the door with a soft click before stripping off his boots and belt and spreading himself out with only a single blanket at the foot of her bed.

Smiling, Kel returned to a dreamless sleep.

* * *

_A/N: So all you're reviews gave me an added batch of inspiration to finish off this chapter. Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgivings (if you're Canadian that is, I guess) and try and review before I get the next chapter up sometime this week._

_-Jez_


	12. Chapter 12

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

The lamplights of Corus winked and flickered in the deepening shadows of the setting sun. The soft calls of night watches and the Provost's Guard could be heard from doorposts and alleyways as the contingent of King's Own made their way towards the gates leading to the upper city. The sun barely hovered above the horizon, granting the tired company dismal light for the last moments of their journey.

The men, tired from their final two days on the road, were silent as they followed their leader and his horse past the eating houses, storefronts and homes of the lower city. The rustle of cloaks and the muffled jingle of brass fittings on the horses mixed with clatter of horseshoes on the icy cobbles. A sharp wind rounded the corner of Tailor Lane, causing little whirlwinds of snow to swirl around the hooves of horses.

Dom pulled the hood of Kel's hood down lower to keep the wind from her face. Hunching his back further, he tucked her deeper into his chest as they entered the outskirts of the Temple District, passing the hooded and cloaked figures that guarded the entryways. Dom nodded to one priestess of the Mother Goddess, her face masked and shadowed, who held a doubled edged axe. She nodded in return, her lips twisting in a half-smile.

Ahead loomed the gates separating the lower merchant classes of the city from the townhouses of the nobility. Dom let out a sigh. They had been on the road since the hour before dawn to allow extra time to reach Corus. After losing time to a handful of lame horses caused by the treacherous ice on the roads leading to the city, Dom had considered stopping at one of the villages on the edge of the river. They could rest and leave for the palace at first light, he had suggested but Kel had put up a fight and he had given in.

She wanted to go home and no one else would argue against that request.

So Dom found himself leading a weary groups of soldier up the steep incline to the solid stone and enforced walls that guarded the inner courtyards and buildings of the palace. They had left behind the wagons just inside the main walls of the city, guarded by Provost Guards and King's soldiers, but the group of horsemen was still large enough to attract attention from those on the wall of the palace defenses. By the time Dom's group had reached the iron gates that led to the inner sanctum of the palace, guards in the Conte blue and silver had seen the standards flying and the flashing steel of uniforms from among the Own and opened the gates.

"We didn't think ye would show 'til the morning once them gates closed" one guard called up to Dom from his position on the ground inside the courtyard. Dom had sent a messenger ahead with the message that they were within sight of the city hours ago.

"We opted for a few extra hours in the saddle instead of another night on the road. We left the wagons behind" Dom explained before turning in his saddle and calling out orders. "Is it possible to inform the kitchens and the bathhouses that we are here? And can someone wake his Grace, Duke of Queenscove?" Dom nodded at the guards' agreement and handed his reins to the stableboy who patiently waited by his horse's head.

One of the Own appeared from the shadows and took Kel as Dom handed her down. Dom slid from the saddle, ignoring the looks from curious onlookers and palace staff. Glancing around, he noted that his men were helping the limited stablehands unsaddle and lead the horses to their stalls. Gear was being unhooked from saddles and piled in the center of the courtyard to be sorted and hauled to the barracks. He heard his name and turned to look at Kel.

She stood with the support of one of Third Company, hood pushed off her hair and wind whipping her cloak around her. Her face was pale but she offered Dom a tired smile. Calling to the men to clean up, eat and go to bed, he scooped Kel off her feet despite her slight protest and headed inside to the Healer Wing.

An apprentice dressed in red robes was hurrying to meet them. She bowed slightly and gestured for Dom to follow. The hallways were lit with replenished oil lamps. The doors to the infirmary were thrown open and novices, apprentices and healers were hurrying to light lamps and heat bricks for a bed in the far corner of the spacious room. Simple wooden screens for privacy were folded out of the way to reveal the Duke of Queenscove dressed in embroidered nightrobes and a dressing gown. He paused in his directions to a man in his twenties who wore the yellow robes of a field healer.

"I did not expect you this late" the Duke said in an amused voice, gesturing for Dom to approach the bed. Settling Kel on the bed, her eyes unfocused and blurry with exhaustion, Dom began unclipping the clasp of her cloak.

Her clumsy fingers fumbled with the buttons of her coat until he gently brushed aside her fingers and began doing it himself. A female healer with steel gray hair pulled severely out of her face coughed to get their attention and Dom blushed. He mumbled his apologies and stepped out of the way to the other side of the screen where his uncle waited.

"Are we ruining your routine?" the Duke asked with laughter in his eyes.

"We are" Dom sought for the right word, "comfortable with each other to do what was needed." He shed his own cloak and jacket, revealing unpolished mail and armor. "I assume Neal warned you what to expect" Dom mentioned and his uncle nodded.

"Any problems on the road aside from the snowstorm we got word of?" Dom shook his head and mentioned that things were healing and she was in less pain. "She's stronger, though not by much. She slept most of the way but she can stand on her own for short periods of time. She will fight you for every bit of independence she can manage" he warned and his uncle nodded knowingly.

He was aware of the Lady Knight's stubbornness.

"I will check her out tonight and do what I can. She'll stay here tonight and then she can settle in her own rooms tomorrow. It may take some time but Neal was right to send her home. The frontline of a war is no place for injuries like hers." Baird heard his assistant beckon from behind the screen and turned to Dom. "Get some dinner into you and clean up. She'll be fine and you can come back in an hour."

Dom hesitated for a moment, realizing how accustomed he had become to being the one to help her. Shaking his head he called softly through the screen before leaving to find a bath house and food.

* * *

Baird, Duke of Queenscove, had daughters, and it was his love for them that made him thank the gods that they had never sought their shields. It was a prayer he said silently to the heavens each time Kel or Alanna found themselves in his care, but he knew better than to say it aloud when his son was near. Or his nephew. Dom, he knew, would be more likely to understand, but Neal would protest and defend his best friend's decision until Chaos was released. He would not understand that Baird held no ill thoughts against female knights, nor did he fail in his support of their right to their decisions. He simply thanked the gods that his daughters would never bear the injuries he had just witnessed.

Washing his hands of herb residue, he considered what Neal had faced and how Dom's patience would have been tested on the road. The fact that her chest and shoulder were nearly healed and her back showed no sign of infection attested to Neal's training and determination. Dom's too, he admitted. He paused at the sound of boot heels, walking with steady purpose across the polished floors.

"I need to send a message to Neal" Dom said quietly, handing over a leathered pouch. "I thought you may wish to convey your own message. I'll send it with the dawn rider." His uncle nodded and dried his hands before accepting the pouch.

"She's asleep if you wanted to see her" Baird mentioned to Dom, waving a hand towards the screened off portion of the room. Dom hesitated, waiting for more information. His uncle noticed and sighed, rubbing a hand over his tired face. "Everything looks good. I boosted everything as much as I could, but these things take time and it is difficult to push past what has naturally healed. You'll see a difference in a couple of days."

Dom nodded and walked to the back of the room. He turned when his uncle called softly.

"You did a good job getting her here. I know it couldn't have been easy for you." The expression that crossed Dom's face was one his uncle couldn't describe. A mix between amusement and consideration.

"Easier than one might think" he replied softly.

He had admitted it to himself days ago that it was easier than staying behind to wonder.

* * *

Early morning light fell across the window ledges and down the walls to spill onto the floor. Kel shifted in the unfamiliar bed as a finger of light broke past her eyelids and interrupted sleep. The unfamiliarity of the bed and the smell of the room was nothing new, having slept in strange beds for the last week. The smell, although stronger than normal, was the pungent smell of willowbark and yarrow root.

Dom liked to sneak it in her tea when she wasn't looking.

Thinking of him, she smiled. He had become her rock. It was something that scared her to admit- that she had come to rely on someone else. That she trusted him to help. For so long she had been determined to prove she was as strong as others in her field; that she was infallible despite evidence that she was as human as the next hero. Yet Dom made her realize it didn't make her any less of a knight to admit to help.

She loved him. There was no denying it now.

And he knew it.

Footfalls alerted her to his presence. All the healers moved with silence, whispers of slippers on the tiles. Dom walked with a purpose, as if battle could appear around the whitewashed stone walls of the infirmary. She grinned as he rounded the wooden screens and stopped short when he saw she was awake. An awkward smile covered up his surprise as he flung a riding cloak over the end of her bed. She struggled to sit up and he let her until an ill-concealed wince caused him to rush to help.

"Uncle told you to take it easy" he chastised gently, easing pillows behind her. "Magic doesn't make up for being skewered by iron."

"I'm going to need a new glaive" Kel said, completely off topic. Dom fumbled to shift thoughts. "Do you think Shinko could have one commissioned here by her guard?"

"Most likely, but there's time to send to the Isles" Dom told her, prepared for the flush on her cheeks, rushed to finish when she opened her mouth to argue. "You won't be able to handle a fully weighted glaive, but I believe the ladies carry lighter ones for practice. And there are practice poles in the Pages' practice courts."

She glared but swallowed her retorts.

"Have you eaten" he asked and she shook her head. Leaning forward he softly touched his lips to her forehead before resting his own forehead against hers. "I'll go get you some breakfast."

She nodded and watched him go, a smile tugging at her lips as her stomach danced with butterflies.


	13. Chapter 13

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

Dom rubbed the heels of both hands into his eye sockets. It did little to relieve the headache building in his head as he once again scanned the stack of applicants on the desk in front of him. After a week of recuperating from the road and keeping Kel from strangling all the maids and servants assigned to her rooms by the high Princess, Dom had welcomed the task of refilling the Own's ranks. Now, three days into the process of reviewing, he would gladly welcome one of Kel's moods.

Sighing heavily, he read the topmost application and attached reference. It was for that of Heylen Pendaren, the third son of a rich merchant house from Trebond usually trading between Port Legann and the Yamani Isles. Dom had done his research on the family in order to understand why a young man just turned sixteen would turn his back on a cushioned position within his father's business. His letter to Dom included his background in hand to hand combat and training with Coram Smythesson, someone Dom's family was well acquainted with. Coram's accompanying reference letter called the boy hard working and a natural with the sword. The boy himself wrote that he wished to find his own place in the world instead of relying on what his father was willing to give away.

He reminded Dom of himself when he joined. His father had been none to happy although he realized that as the younger son, his options were limited unless he married an heiress. Dom had wanted the adventure that came with the Own and the independence away from court and decorum. He had accepted the bachelorhood that came with the Own and until now had never regretted the restraint it provided its members. He pulled himself out of his thoughts as Wolset entered the office from the practice courts.

"We lost five more before second bell" the other man called out with a mocking smile. It was well known that out of the possible fifty men who had applied for acceptance to the Own, less than half would survive the interview process and subsequent training rigors of basic training. Dom raised an eyebrow and Wolset answered the unasked question. "Hayrse, Falls Reach, Gildranrod, Conrad and that fellow from Kanrite Peak."

"I thought he had potential" Dom mused, ignoring the grunt from Wolset. "What about Pendaren? I received his reference this morning from the Lord of Trebond."

"A bit small but the Trebonds' are used to scrawny swordsmen. He is quick and attentive. Has yet to talk back or question an order even when Sajuya made them tear apart and rebuild the wagons yesterday. I watched him with the weapon masters yesterday too and he seems to have a grasp on metal work and smithing." Wolset moved on to a few other candidates before coming back to the topic of training camp. "The men were wondering if you had decided on an expedition site yet."

Like the Pages each year, the Own took new recruits on a mission. Sometimes it was created specifically- like a fire or immortal hunt; other times luck would strike and an actual mission would call for attention. Dom was hoping nothing drastic would occur.

"I had thought perhaps a hunt through the cliffs west of Port Legann. We have reports of hurroks nesting there but have felt no urgency to clean them out. It could be controlled, useful and educational" Dom informed him.

"You are still thinking the weeks after Midwinter, correct?" Wolset noted the mooncyles marked out on a wooden calendar on the desk. Midwinter was only three weeks away and training and recruitment would take another two, easily. Dom nodded and leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head.

"It will give us time to prepare and hopefully by then we will have news from Raoul about returning to the border. I'm hoping Kel would up to it by then too-" Dom was interrupted from finishing his thoughts by footsteps halting in the doorway. Turning, he noted Darien Pwyll in the doorway.

"Fabien asked me to tell you that there is a visitor in the practice courts that perhaps should not be there" Darien explained. Dom gave him a level look that Darien answered. "Fabien said he would prefer not to incur her wrath by taking the sword from her hand."

At the first mention of 'her' Dom groaned and pushed back his chair. Frustrated by the lack of strength even in her good arm, Kel had taken in the previous days to handling a blade again. Dom had let her do it under his watchful gaze until yesterday when Baird had commented on the inflammation in her chest and back during an inspection in the infirmary. He had warned her away from doing anything more physical than walking until he gave permission.

And even walking had yet to meet Dom's satisfaction.

After a handful of days confined to her rooms and bedrest after returning from the border, Dom and Yuki had begun helping her walk the corridors and hallways when they were quiet. She had only recently mastered stairs without more help than a railing but she tired easily. Keeping her busy was a task Dom was failing at.

Reaching the fenced in practice yards, Dom strode towards the figure seated on a bench that faced two applicants dueling with spears. She grinned when she saw Dom. The smile faded when she saw his frown.

"Kel, how could you? You agreed to take a break and wait" he tried to be patient as the words slipped out between clenched jaws. She looked confused.

"I don't understand, I wasn't-" She fiddled with the hilt of her sword, twirling the sheathed end on the snowy ground.

"Darien said you were on the practice courts and-" he stopped when she shook her head.

"I came to see Heylen. The Pendarens' younger daughter, Eileigh, is a friend of my sisters. They met while we were in the Isles. Shinko mentioned that Heylen was applying for the Own and could perhaps order a new glaive through his father. I brought my old sword so the weapons smith could mold the proper handgrip." She searched Dom's face and realized what would have upset him given the scene. She smirked. "You thought I was doing something stupid."

"You do tend to do that. Have you spoken to Heylen?" Emotions under check again, Dom settled beside her and let her lean against him.

"No, but I've been watching. He's a quick learner and he takes direction while also causing others to follow his lead." Dom smiled, knowing he agreed with her. "He reminds me a bit of you."

"Really?" he asked with a smirk, watching the boy with a closer eye.

"Well, without the womanizer part." He squeezed her hand and laughed, standing to call the recruit over.

* * *

The stones were cool against her fingertips as Kel used the wall to steady herself. The corridor stretched before her, silent except for the faraway steps on guards and the mutterings of people behind partially closed doors. Drafts of cold air drifted from levels above and brushed against the back of her neck. She shivered and regretted leaving her cloak behind but she hadn't expected to find herself here.

She was in the metal smiths' wing of the palace, two levels below ground and sandwiched between the royal seamstresses and spice storage rooms. Yuki had escorted her as far as Lalasa's workrooms within the palace and left her there under the former maid's watchful gaze. For an hour they had argued playfully over the cut and design and color of various gowns which would be suitable for Midwinter parties. War and her recovery had taken their toll on Kel and few of her gowns fit much less remained in style. After bantering back and forth, Lalasa had sent her back to her rooms. It was an order Kel shrugged off and ignored, choosing instead to wander the labyrinth of palace storerooms and workrooms.

The steady rhythm of hammer hitting metal caught Kel's attention as she paused by an open door. The glow of a fire cast an orange glare onto the stones in the hallway and Kel looked into the room. A tall, wiry man of middle age stood before a long table hammering out dents in plate armor. Kel was surprised, since she had thought that work was normally conducted in the forges behind the Own's barracks. She remained where she was at the door, watching as the hammering stopped and the metal worker began measuring the well beaten armor against what appeared to be the beginnings of new plates. Something broke the man's concentration and he looked to the doorway.

"I'm sorry" Kel stumbled, surprised. "I was just watching and I-" She stopped when he gave her a small smile. Beckoning her in, he pointed to a chair by the fireplace.

"Sit, Lady Knight, and tell me what brings you to the bowels of the castle." He continued to make markings alongside the new plates. Measurements that Kel could see matched the old plate armor almost exactly.

"You know who I am?" Kel seemed surprised and the smith looked at her puzzled. Shrugging it off, Kel explained. "I was bored and the seamstresses were finished with me." The man laughed.

"And so you find yourself in the workshop of Faizal ter Davor" the man said wryly. "Tell me Lady Knight Keladry, are you familiar with mending chain mail links?" Without waiting for her answer, Faizal handed her a pair of small pliers and a coil of finely drawn wire.

A bowl of chain links were placed on the table in front of her alongside the pliers, wire and a sheet of partially finished chain mail. After a few moments of instruction, Faizal left her to continue and returned to hammering out the dents of the armor before him. A friend had delivered it days ago and commissioned him to make a new set based on the same pattern and size. Faizal had enough talent and training to restore the badly beaten metal but had agreed that a new set would be more reliable.

Out of the corner of his eye he watched the lady knight pinch and snap wire and links into place, slightly awkward for the splint on her arm. She had been surprised that he knew her name, but he had not informed her that everyone was aware of who she was. Confined to her rooms and in the company of those who forbid gossip she had not been exposed to the rumors and stories running through the city and palace about her role in the Battle of Hallowed Field, as it was being called. He smiled to himself as he focused on his work again. She had become a hero and didn't know it.

Instead she sat in silence and mended chain mail as if she was an apprentice.

She was unaware of the time passing until stiffness made her shift and discomfort radiated in her back. Faizal had been watching for it, aware through his own sources that the lady knight had not returned from the border unscathed. Setting down the charcoal he was using to sketch out the new set of armor, he left his table and approached Kel. Inspecting her work he gave it an appraising glance.

"Not bad" he told her, taking the pliers from slightly shaky fingers and recoiling the wire. He placed both in the bowl of links and ran his fingers over the completed section. "You do steady work."

"I forget that sitting in one position does more than make me stiff" she muttered as she braced herself for the pain she would feel when she stood. A firm hand pushed her back into her seat.

"Stay and I will send one of the boys from the next shop to find someone." Kel began to protest before Faizal stopped her with a head shake. "There's no way you will make it back to your rooms in that shape and it is improper for a metal smith to be carrying the nobility through the palace walls. Wait for help."

She nodded, grateful. He was right. She would only get as far as the stairs before giving in and by then she wouldn't be able to think straight. Plus, she thought with a sigh, Dom would turn that unattractive shade of purple and stutter as he lectured her. Or Yuki would hit her with a fan. She would wait.

It wasn't long before Dom found her dozing in front of Faizal ter Davor's hearth. Gently rousing her, he waited for her eyes to focus before helping her to her feet. She was stiff and sore as he gripped her elbow to keep her from falling. She quietly thanked Faizal who nodded and told her to come anytime she wanted. Dom coaxed her as far as the door before swinging her up and walking the five levels of corridors and stairs to her rooms in the knights' wing.

"Do you know people have been searching the entire castle proper for you?" he teased softly as he walked. "I was waiting for someone to report that they had found you in the city."

"By the time I got there, I would have had to turn around and gone back. Not overly exciting" she retorted. "I was just wandering and Master ter Davor offered me work. I felt useful even if it was only mending mail."

"Next time, just tell someone. I don't enjoy Yuki hitting me with her fan. She seems to be under the impression that I am your keeper" he informed her, somewhat annoyed. She raised an eyebrow in her signature fashion. They had reached her door and Dom set her on her feet, keeping an arm around her waist.

"But I thought that was your new title, Sergeant- Official Keeper of Stubborn Knights" she replied flippantly, a smile fighting to appear. He tossed his head back and laughed before moving his hands from her waist to her face.

"True" he said shrugging shoulders. "But I prefer the title of Protector of the Protector."

"I told you not to call me that" she said with an undignified snarl.

"And I don't always listen to you" he informed her, unlocking her door and leading her to the bed. "Just as you rarely listen to me. Now it's naptime or I will make you take it in the infirmary."

Sighing she removed her shoes and accepted the blankets he offered her. Laying down on the still made bed, she watched as he drew off his boots and removed his jacket.

"What are you doing?" she asked, closing her eyelids and feeling the bed sink behind her.

"Taking a nap. It's a long walk back to the barracks and your other keepers are off duty." Dom placed his hands behind his bed and shut his eyes.

He knew she was smiling.


	14. Chapter 14

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Strains of music filtered through the glass doors from the great hall. Inside heavy wreaths of pine and spruce, holly and mistletoe decorated every corner and wall of the room in preparation for Midwinter. Ribbons and pine cones accentuated the boughs and railings leading up to the dais where the king and queen sat. The tables bore expensive china and silverware, glass goblets and ice sculptures magicked to not melt. In the far corner, five steps down from the thrones, harpists and musicians played tirelessly to keep the richly robed and cloaked nobility spinning and twirling on silk shod feet.

Everywhere pearls and diamonds glistened like ice and rubies and emeralds clustered to form patterns of holly and berries. Where those who had opted not to dress seasonally danced and gathered, sapphires and amethysts winked in the candlelight from the hundreds of gold and copper candelabras. Chatter rose and fell from tables as people toasted the new year and holidays. And victory.

Kel was sick of it.

On the balcony, hands gripping the icy cool stone of the balustrade, Kel tried to tune out the party happening behind her. Wind whipped her expertly coiled hair out of its pins and she itched to scrub the cosmetics from her face. The gown she wore was beautifully made and had gained many admirers during the evening. The dark green velvet hugged her shoulders, arms and chest, gathering under her breasts and flowing down to pool around her feet. A wide gold and silver band connected the full skirt to the fitted top and matched the hemming at the bottom. The sleeves were shorter than winter custom and stopped at her elbows allowing for the ever-present splint on her hand. The queen had complemented the style but Kel could have cared less.

Those who were strangers to her life would have carelessly thought her distance that evening was simply boredom or awkwardness; a side effect of being mentored by Raoul of Goldenlake. Her friends and family knew the difference. It irked her slightly that Dom kept trying to pull her into the festivities that were taking place almost two weeks before Midwinter.

He, she thought, should know she wanted to be left alone.

He knew about the letter.

It had arrived from the border two days ago along with the news of victory on the fields surrounding North Watch fortress. It had been the second such victory since Kel had left the front and military leaders and retired knights debated endlessly about whether it would mean another peace conference to sue for a treaty. Although Kel happily welcomed the thought of peace and a treaty, her exhilaration at the victory had been shadowed by the letter sent by Neal.

Cleon of Kennan was dead.

Neal had conveyed the news to her personally although he had not been at North Watch. He had been at Mastiff when Merric and Faleron had ridden in the day following the battle with messages to be sent to Corus and Blue Harbor. They had been uninjured for the most part, Neal had told her. They had stayed only long enough to send messengers before returning to North Watch. Neal had thought she had the right to know.

Cleon was dead.

It kept circling in her head. Each thought came back to that fact. She didn't love him, never had now that she was old enough to know the difference. It didn't change that he was her first sweetheart and a good friend. Their blood and upbringing had come between them but she never resented him for his marriage. Wiser now, she was grateful. It was possible she would rather pursue an unorthodox relationship with Dom as a soldier than to marry Cleon. Fate had interceded and shoved them onto their appropriate paths. It didn't change that a friend was dead.

She had tried to enjoy the celebrations being held. Dom and Yuki had thought it would take her mind off of things but it did nothing more than make her want to scream. How could all those people in there celebrate and dance and make cheerful conversation when they had all lost someone in this war? People had died to bring victory and the people ate cake and dined on wine. For the first time in weeks, Kel felt the urge to fight her own body and pick up a sword and ride north. After four weeks away from battle, she itched to do something useful- to confront the enemy.

A hand at her back caused her to jump. Startled, she looked behind her to see Dom dressed in official uniform, silver braiding marking him as an officer. She wordlessly turned back to survey the snow covered gardens laid before her. His hand slid from her back to rest on her hip, silently trying not to think about the lack of corset beneath her gown.

"Master Numair was asking after you and her Majesty was concerned that you were not up to the celebrations" Dom bent near her ear to say. She shivered as his breath reached her neck.

"I'm not, but not in the way she thinks" Kel snapped. Her cheeks colored when she felt him stiffen at her side. "I'm sorry. I just cannot stand in there and listen to people praise me while others are dead for doing the same deeds."

"You mean while Kennan is dead." Dom felt his irritation rise again but tried to control it. He knew she and Kennan were over- finished before she even received her shield. He should not feel envy over a dead man.

"We've discussed this before" Kel said in a warning tone, not wishing to relive that discussion on a public balcony at a royal party. "He was a friend before we were sweethearts and he was a friend after. He's the first real friend I've lost in this war. Yes there were others I knew, people who I felt responsible for or knew better, but Cleon could have been me. Don't you see that?" She was losing control over her emotions and it shouldn't happen here. Her eyes pleaded with Dom to understand.

"But it wasn't you. Cleon died the way any knight or soldier plans to die. On the battlefield, serving his king and protecting his country. If it had been you, I would have wanted nothing less of a hero's death for you, but it wasn't you. The gods listened that day and kept you from death. Cleon's time was up and he fought to the end. You cannot take that from him by feeling guilty." Dom pulled her to him and felt her grip the lapels on his coat as silent tears flooded her eyes.

"We never talked about what happened between us. It was never discussed. We just went on with our lives as if we were still pages, skipping over our squire years" Kel explained, knowing that it shouldn't matter but feeling like it should have.

"We all regret leaving things unsaid, Kel" Dom reminded her, using her own words as evidence. She was quiet as he held her. "If it had been you last month, I would not have regretted knowing you died the way you were trained to but I would have had other regrets."

"I wanted to tell you" she whispered and once again they were back on the wall of Steadfast. "I wanted to so much but then-. I just couldn't. A lot of that day is a blur, but I do remember knowing with complete certainty that I was going to die and I was so scared you would blame yourself."

"I think I was the only person who didn't realize you were missing. Every time I asked and people avoided the question I just brushed it off and kept waiting for you to find me. I told myself you were seeing to your men or scouting the woods. Even Neal knew, though no one told him. It was Merric's squire who told me they were looking and every thought I had then obliterated by world." His arms tightened as he relived that day on the field. "I thought I had lost you forever and I hadn't told you because I thought we were both invincible."

"No one is. Not even the gods" Kel considered softly.

"Please don't let Kennan's death eat at you" he pleaded. "I understand he was a friend but that doesn't mean you can't take pleasure in the victory of it all."

Kel nodded and looked up, smoothing her good hand over his cheek. Smiling he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before leaning down. Kel's breath checked in her throat as he came so close she could make out the perfect blue of his eyes. His lips brushed gently against hers before she relaxed and gripped the back of his head. He smiled against her mouth and deepened the kiss.

"No regrets" he whispered.

"No regrets" she assured him.

* * *

Two days later found Dom, Wolset and Quasim seated around a table in one of the Own's conference rooms. Pouring over the remaining twenty candidates for the Own, they were trying to determine where they would be assigned for the remainder of their training. Dom had already informed the men that they would be moving into the empty beds in the barracks, having already cleaned out the personal affects of those deceased members and shipping them to their families.

"Third Company has six spots available, Fourth needs four more and Sixth reports five openings. Second and Seventh recruited in Port Caynn and Fifth usually scouts out the desert tribes. That leaves five extra men, although we'll probably lose that many between now and the training expedition" Quasim reported as Dom made notes.

"I already sent word to Port Legann that we would be there sometime in the weeks following midwinter" Dom said offhandedly. His uncle had agreed that Kel would be able to go and he would use it as test before sending her back to the front lines. "Now we get first dibs at the recruits to fill our own ranks and then pass the rest onto Finn in the Fourth and Philippe with the Sixth. So men, who gets the pleasure of our company?" Dom leaned back and placed his hands over his head, winking at the grins on his mens' faces.

"That spice merchant's grandson, Diamuid, is a fair shot with a crossbow and can handle a sword decently. He could be handy" Wolset offered. Dom nodded and said the same about Mattea Shipson from another trading family.

"I like Heylen Pendaren" Quasim noted, and Dom agreed. They all knew he had taken a liking to the young man. "And that boy from Tirrsmont. The old coot's grandson. He has spunk and he has two years of university training to heal to boot."

"He adores Kel" Wolset added with a smirk and Dom laughed.

"I think after yesterday he's more likely to be terrified" Quasim said. "I think he underestimated her hand with a sword." He was referring to the Duke's consent that Kel could begin training with a wooden practice sword as long as she was careful. Dom had taken on the job of practicing partner, not trusting anyone else to be careful. She had gotten more than energetic and obliterated him while he wasn't paying attention.

"We all underestimated her with a sword. I still take the position she's been secretly practicing" Dom said with good humor. "She was in pain after though. You won't see her pull another stunt like that for a week at least."

He missed the raised eyebrows of his comrades.

"What about that mage from Vermillion Ridge? He's some relation to Darien. We haven't had a mage ride with us in awhile." Wolset nodded and added another name that Dom turned down. A twenty minute debate drew the final name for Third Company's ranks.

"Well then boys. I believe we have some new recruits to train." Dom said, referring to the fact that each Company trained their own recruits once basic training ended. Only those chosen by Third Company would accompany them on the raid in Port Legann when the time came.

A knock on the door interrupted them and after Dom's call, it opened to reveal Kel bundled up for the cold. She shut the door behind her and waited for Wolset to finish telling her who had been chosen. She smiled at Heylen's name. Dom finally cut him off and focused on her.

"Were you looking for me or just wandering around?" he asked casually. They had decided that their relationship would remain between them for the time being. Midwinter would mean families and friends hassling them and given the amount of time Dom spent with her on 'official orders', the gossipers would have more fodder than they had had in years. He didn't want her caught up in that and she didn't want to act like the traditional maiden being courted.

"Your uncle cleared me to ride, but I've been ordered by her Highness to bother someone else. Apparently she and Yuki are busy so I thought-" She tried to appear natural, knowing people saw them riding together all the time but this time it seemed different.

"Well, we're done here. Wolset can inform the candidates. How about I meet you in the courtyard within the half bell?" He suggested, handing the lists to Wolset. She nodded and left for the stables.

"She's riding?" Wolset asked when she was out of earshot. Dom knew he had seen the slight limp in her step which indicated the previous days activities had caught up to her.

"Not for long" Dom decided, shaking his head at her stubbornness. "I don't know how she hid it from his Grace, but she should have made a bigger effort to hide it from me."

"Well, Master Keeper" Wolset joked, clapping his friend on the back, "I'm off to terrorize the new members of our little family. Should I tell them that their responsibilities include keeping my Lady from the practice courts?"

"Probably. And the stables. And the tilting fields. And the city." Dom added as he thought of all possibilities.

"How about I just tell them to stand guard outside her door?" Wolset grumbled.

"Oh, don't bother" Quasim interjected, "that's where Dom usually is. We only have to worry about when she sneaks by him."

Dom shook his head at the men's loyalty to her welfare and went to get dressed for riding.


	15. Chapter 15

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 15**

The days leading up to Midwinter were filled with tasks, orders and practice. Raoul sent word from the border that he would be returning to the palace with First and Fifth Company in the weeks following Midwinter. Dom was expected to be ready to immediately embark with the new recruits for the cliffs outside Legann. Raoul would be going. He had yet to be informed that Kel would be going as well.

Dom was leaving that up to Duke Baird.

Neal sent gifts to the palace via the messenger carrying Raoul's orders. His letter to Kel spoke of New Hope where he had been re-assigned along with Merric. Tobe's Rider Group had replaced the Company of King's Own that had been stationed there before they were sent south to recruit in the desert. Faleron and Roald had been sent back to Blue Harbor while the Lioness had finally left Neal alone and returned to the coast. Neal would not be back from Midwinter but most likely by February depending on Kel's return to the north.

Owen wrote Kel of his jolly battles and various wounds.

Kel had felt a stab of loneliness as she read her friends' letters about victory and work. She missed having a direction or something do no matter how menial it appeared. She had returned frequently to Faizal ter Davor's workshop to mend mail and links while constantly admiring the work being done to Faizal's current project. When Faizal was in the forge or unavailable, she sought out Dom in the practice courts or conference rooms to listen while he and the senior officers of the Own lectured and trained the new recruits.

Setting down the book that had become so boring her thoughts wandered all over the place, Kel decided she and Neal would have a chat about his taste in reading material. Stretching, she rubbed the still tender spot on her back where scarring and new tissue still caused discomfort when she over worked. She had come to accept the curved scar beneath her shoulder on her front and back.

Dom always said it reminded him of what they had almost lost.

Flexing the fingers on her splinted hand, she frowned. She had been warned it wouldn't be off for at least another two weeks. Duke Baird had re-broken three of the bones in her hand the other day after realizing that they were off centered. It wasn't surprising seeing as how Neal had set it without an ounce of magic. It didn't stop her from training or riding but it had become annoying.

Grabbing her quilted jacket from the hook on the back of her door, Kel shrugged it on over her woolen shirt and breeches. Flicking her braid back over her shoulder she contemplated cutting it for the hundredth time since being home but knowing how much Dom like running his fingers through it always stopped her. Picking up Griffin in its sheath, she pulled on a pair of gloves before stepping outside her rooms and heading towards the practice courts.

Dom was standing against the fence when she arrived. Mild weather had allowed the Own to clear the snow from the outdoor courts. He repeatedly called to the pairs in front of him as they repeatedly assembled and tore down tents while Dom timed them. Kel grinned as the new men scowled.

"Come on, children" Dom called, "you've been riding since dawn and its past dusk. You're tired and hungry and cold and you don't get to eat or sleep until everyone's tent is up." Kel leaned over the fence and waited for him to notice her. He didn't, continuing to call out orders instead. It was Eli of Vermillion Ridge who called Dom's attention to knight beside him.

"My Lady, please tell him that he will find frogs in his tent if he keeps this up" the young man yelled with humor. Kel laughed and Dom rolled his eyes at seeing her there.

"I believe my words were 'Kel, it's icy and cold- please use the indoor courts'. Am I mistaken?" he drawled, still watching his men.

"No" she said evenly. "But there was no one there. And Neal's book was boring. Thus you find me here." She batted her eyelashes at him in a way that he found hilarious simply because it was so unlike her.

"So you decided to come put up tents for practice?"

"No. I wanted to ride but Stephan refuses to release Peachblossom unless you or his Grace sends permission. So, if you could just-"

"Who is going with you?" Her silence was answer enough. "Then no permission. Until you can mount and dismount by yourself, the answer is no." Dom had to applaud her for the unending determination to find a way around the rules without exactly breaking them.

"Fine. Then find me a tent" Kel informed him, slipping between the rungs of the fence. He eyed her incredulously. She really never gave up, did she?

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, _Domitan_. If you had yet to notice I am quite bored. So, a tent if you please." She crossed her arms over her chest and waited. The men had stopped and were watching with amusement.

"_Keladry_" he bit out, "you're not putting up tents with only one good hand, no matter if it would be faster than these loobies." The silence that followed was broken by clatter of hoofbeats on the stone courtyard behind them.

"Keladry, my girl, please tell me that you are not giving Domitan a difficult time. He looks quite harassed." Kel turned wearily at the voice of her old knight master.

Raoul of Goldenlake and Malories' Peak held the reins in his hand as he dismounted and walked his horse towards the fence. Behind him, the remainder of Fifth Company were dismounting. His clothes were flaked with snow and there were new lines on his face but Kel couldn't keep her smile suppressed. She grinned as he removed his helmet and tucked it under his arm. He swung the other arm around Dom's shoulders and chuckled.

"You look like you're deciding between feeding her to spidrens and using her for tilting practice" the Commander observed, taking in Dom's surly glare in the direction of Kel who was glaring back. Raoul didn't miss the glint of amusement in both sets of eyes however.

"I'm leaning towards tilting practice now that you're here, my Lord" Dom informed him. Raoul laughed and inspected Kel more closely.

"Well, I myself am quite tired. Perhaps we could wait until tomorrow. By then I will have spoken to Baird and he can inform me what she is capable of." Raoul winked at Kel whose frown had deepened.

"I can guarantee he will tell you she can't put up tents" Dom smirked.

Kel threw away all remaining restraint and stuck her tongue out at him.

* * *

Dom relinquished later and made it up to Kel by allowing himself to be dragged to the indoor fencing courts. Once the squires had left them alone, he handed her a wooden practice sword and took the guard position. She bit her lip and concentrated on his blade. He was holding back speed but she matched each move perfectly. Picking up the pace slightly, Dom thrust forward and cursed himself silently when she stumbled.

"You were holding back" she accused, wiping sweat from her forehead. He shrugged and she sighed. "It's going to take forever to get back to where I was. I wish I had my glaive, and then I would know how to train. The sword is never my first choice- it's more difficult to judge."

"Just focus on strength. I'm not trying to skewer you so just focus on endurance and strength. Then we will pick up the pace" Dom assured her and they retook the guard position.

The second time around he kept the pace even and they worked on simply following the movements. When they finished, he tossed her a water bottle that she fumbled with but managed to catch with her good hand. Draining it, she shoved stray tendrils of hair from her face. Dom just watched her, mesmerized by her careless grace. Shaking his head he reached out to help her sit.

"Anything hurt?" he asked and she glared. "Okay, stupid question. Where does it hurt?" he corrected. Kel shrugged and eased down on the bench, wincing as something tweaked in her back. Dom smiled softly and took the sword from her hand. Placing it behind him, he spun her around on the bench so he could see her back. No one else was in the room, so he lifted the back of her loose shirt and ran a hand over the flush pink skin of new scars on her lower back.

"It's just muscle" she said softly, shivering under his fingertips. "Nothing a bath won't fix."

"Just relax for me" he said, massaging the tissue in her back and working up to her shoulders. She leaned against him as he stopped the motion and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Better?"

Kel nodded and shut her eyes, just listening to their breathing as Dom rubbed the scar below her shoulder. She had been afraid of things changing between them after that night on the balcony but it hadn't. They were openly affectionate when they were alone but in front of their peers, everything was the same. She let the motion of his hands lull her to sleep, faintly feeling them stop as he kissed her forehead.

Dom chuckled when he felt her head shift on his chest and her breathing skip and then even out. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, he inhaled the scent of apples that was distinctly Kel. Changing position, he turned and then scooped her up. Leaving the swords on the bench, he eased out the door and carried her down the hall to the staircase leading to the upper levels. There he paused, thinking of how he was going to get her up three flights of stairs in an unlit stairwell, and then gently shook her awake.

"Kel? Sweet?" She murmured and turned her head into his chest. "Kel, the servants doused the lamps for the night. I need to stand so we can do the steps." No answer.

Dom sighed. There was no way for him to carry her up the winding steps without a light. Turning his back on the stairs, he followed the hall to the narrow covered passage that led to the barracks of the King's Own. Passing the handful of doors that led to halls of beds of the companies, Dom reached the one Raoul had assigned him that afternoon after informing him of his temporary placement as Second-in Command until Raoul could confirm it with the council. The news of Jaxon of Silver Lake's death in Frasrlund and Dom's appointment in the same breath had come as a shock and he had been waiting for the perfect time to tell Kel. Unlocking the door to his new rooms, Dom kicked it shut behind them and then placed Kel on the bed.

He paused for a moment, second guessing his decision to bring her here, and then decided he would deal with it in the morning. They would also discuss the end of practice after dinner until she could stay awake. He grinned and then sobered as he found a night shirt among his unpacked things and settled on the bed. Pulling off her boots and unbuckling her belt, he placed them under a chair. Then he made a second attempt to wake her up.

"This is getting annoying" she grumbled, still foggy. "Just leave me on the stairs." Dom chuckled and pulled her into a sitting position.

"Work with me, Lady Knight" he told her as he helped her out of her tunic and shirt, leaving her in the corset Lalasa had made to cover her back and protect it from sword blades during practice. By that point she had woken enough to look around. "Questions after you're undressed" he told her, turning his back and leaving the room to douse the candles in his adjoining office and locking the door.

When he returned, he placed her clothes on the chair and undid the tie at the end of her braid. Running his hands through to unweave the braid, he leaned down to kiss her. She mumbled against his lips and he pulled back.

"Where are we?" She asked, more awake. He grinned and told her, watching the happy grin split her face. "I'm so proud of you" she told him returning his kiss. It deepened and his hands gripped her hips before they realized that she was barely dressed.

Blushing, she pulled away and Dom pulled the blankets down, easing her under them before climbing in himself. Tugging her close, he waited to hear her breathing signal sleep.

It was as if they were back on the road again, with nothing between them. When he pulled her closer, he took happiness in the smile on her face.

* * *

The week of Midwinter found Kel and Dom on edge around everyone. Friends and families arriving from fiefs and the border on leave commented on a change in attitude and mood, but could never seem to specifically pinpoint the cause. For a few days it had been heavily discussed until they gave up and concluded it was just the result of two months of leave.

They saved their gifts for each other to be opened in private. Donning a deep red dress that fitted beautifully and brushing her hair out to reach down her back, Kel pulled on slippers before hurrying to Dom's rooms. Despite the companies' attempts to prank their new Captain, it was still easier to sneak into his rooms than to risk maids or servants entering hers. Or Yuki. That had been a close call. Rapping a quick knock on his door, Kel ducked inside without being seen.

It had become a game to see how much they could get away with.

After deciding Neal would be the first to know and that it would have to be in person, Dom and Kel continued to hide any aspect of their courting that extended beyond what people expected. Thanks to Raoul and his orders and Duke Baird's praise of Dom's effectiveness as a keeper, no one questioned how often they sought each other's company. Kel grinned as Dom's lips crashed into hers.

When he pulled away she laughed and settled herself in a chair by the fire, gripping his gift in her hands. It had taken awhile to come up with something that she could obtain without his presence and without venturing into the city. Finally she had sought out Heylen and asked for his help. Now she was afraid it was stupid and too much effort for this early in their relationship.

He sensed her unease and tried to lighten the tension. Moving his gaze from her face where the fire reflected off of the curved of her cheek, he noticed the glaive in her hand and grinned.

"Are you ever going to put that thing down? No one will steal it from you, you know" he joked. Heylen's family had docked the last ship of the year the day before and he had delivered it to the practice grounds himself. She had done a few pattern twirls before giving in and admitting it was heavier than she was ready for.

"It's actually not for me" she whispered, standing and taking a step towards him. Staring at the floor, she felt the way she did on that first morning in the tilting yard when he had watched. "That first morning I started training with her Majesty and Shinko, you kept asking questions. Yuki teased me mercilessly but it made me think. If you're going to continue to follow me around to make sure I don't break a nail than you may as well get something useful out of it, so I talked to Heylen and they added another glaive to my order. This is yours. Faizal agreed to burn the handgrip when you're ready." She paused for a breath and looked up.

Dom was smiling the smile that girls at court swooned in the face of.

Kel was made of stronger stuff and managed to stay upright.

"So you like it? I was so worried you would think it was stupid or pointless-" his mouth on hers stopped the flow of words.

"I love it. I think it's perfect. I can threaten the new recruits with it. Besides, I never back down from something new." He took it from her and tested its weight, knowing he wouldn't dare do more than that in a room given his limited experience. "I hope my gift to you holds up to this standard." He gestured her into his room.

Faizal ter Davor's completed set of plate armor rested on an armor rack in the center of Dom's bedroom. Newly polished and beautifully designed, Kel gasped at the sight. Dom smiled at her surprise. Approaching it, Kel ran her hands along the fluid lines and the perfectly interlocking pieces. She looked over her shoulder and saw the pleasure on Dom's face.

"You're not serious? Dom it's too much" she insisted, realizing how long ago he must have had this planned. "I know how much time went into this….Dom, are you sure?" He nodded and she turned away from the armor and threw her arms around his neck.

"So you like it?" he said, echoing her earlier question. She laughed nodded against his neck. "I talked to him about repairing yours but it took a pretty decent beating."

"It's beautiful" she insisted. Raining kisses along his neck, she felt him grip her waist and paused to look into his eyes. "I love you."

He smiled and pulled her closer, placing his lips on her hair.

"I love you, too, Sweet. With all my heart."

Later, tangled around each other in front of the fire with two goblets of wine within arms reach, Dom watched her sleep. Trailing warm fingers over her scars, he smiled as he identified each of them.

People joked that she belonged with Third Company, that it was a part of her.

Dom resisted the urge to tell them they were wrong.

She belonged with him and if he was a part of her it was because she owned his heart.


	16. Chapter 16

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Chapter 16**

The remaining days of the Midwinter festival passed quickly and at the full moon of the next month, a group of newly knighted men rode through the palace gates on their way to various northern outposts. Having completed their trials within the Chamber of Ordeal and duly celebrated success, the King had assigned each to a much needed post. Not all were glamorous such as Kieran of Silveroak's commanding position at an encampment between New Hope and Steadfast, but all were equally important on the chessboard of politics.

They were headed to war.

It was a war that was rumor to be nearing its end although those in high offices refused to confirm or deny it as truth. Between the talk taking place in the lower levels of the palace by suppliers and quartermasters, Dom letting her help sort through incoming correspondence from the border, and Raoul purposely slipping her confidential information, Kel knew that the rumors were leaning towards truth. Maggur was draining troops from the mountains around Tusaine and Scanra's most northern coast in desperate hope of pushing Tortall back beyond the River Vassa. Since the onset of winter and Kel's return to the city, Tortallan commanders and generals had not only held the Tortallan bank, but also several miles of the Scanran side as well.

Scanran wolf chieftains and tribal leaders were withdrawing north. Enemy troops were rebelling and on the verge of mutiny. Public executions were reported daily by the Whisper Man's allies as Scanran officials hung traitors, spies and foreigners without any more proof than word of mouth or gossip. It was obvious to anyone listening that Scanra's warlord was sitting on an unsteady throne.

It was a thought of cold comfort as Kel watched the realm's youngest knights prance with barely restrained excitement out the gates. There was still a risk of raiding parties and squirmishes that would continue even when peace negotiations were completed, but at least those boys would have a chance to return home in one piece, unscathed.

Kel looked over her shoulder and watched as Lord Raoul emerged from his office with Dom and Wolset, all of the swinging weapons or bag or maps. The rest of the men from Third Company that were milling around the courtyard waited until the commander and his senior officers strapped their gear to the saddle and mounted up before doing the same. Kel turned her head back to the front when Dom caught her eye, hiding her blush in her hood as she fiddled with Peachblossom's reins.

She tried to relax as the shivers down her back increased at the sound of horseshoes. She didn't need to look; she knew it was Dom. In the last few weeks, she could always tell when it was Dom. Their discretion and subtlety had left no one the wiser of their relationship, although hiding it from Raoul was becoming a task that required imagination. They had slipped from the position of 'don't ask, don't tell' to outright denial and fibs.

Kel hated it but after the final Midwinter celebration where the Duchess of King's Cross had accused her of blackmailing Raoul into giving Dom his new position, she had realized that now was not the time to prove some of the gossip true.

Instead, she had jumped at the Duke of Queenscove's permission to accompany Third Company on their training expedition to Port Legann. Raoul had grilled with the Head Healer for the better part of an hour as to whether she was capable before giving in and consenting. Another interrogation had resulted in allowing her to ride by herself. Gripping the reins, she huddled into her cloak and shifted in the saddle.

"It's not going to be as cozy traveling by yourself," Dom whispered close to her ear as Raoul ordered the recruits into lines. Kel rolled her eyes and steered Peachblossom a step away from the other horse.

"Don't draw attention," she reminded him softly.

"Oh yes. Rule number four on our list of things not to do this week. If we stick to them, it will be extremely boring," he pointed out, flashing her a wink.

"Yes. It follows no unnecessary worrying or constant questioning, no inappropriate comments and no being maimed," Kel retorted. Despite her insistence, she was in accord that the week would be much duller with all the rules required for the trip.

Both riders looked up as Raoul trotted up beside Kel, effectively placing her in the middle of the threesome. The tactic did not go unnoticed and Kel raised an eyebrow at her commander. He ignored her questioning glance and ordered the newly appointed standard bearer to proceed. Lerant had been moved to corporal.

"Now, Keladry, do we remember the rules?" Raoul asked in an official manner that Kel knew to be completely mocking.

"Yes, Sir. No being maimed. No being skewered. No being kidnapped, attacked or disarmed. No broken bones, no bleeding, no concussions or impalements. No requirement for medical attention of any kind." Kel glared at Dom who was chuckling beside her but also gave in and laughed. "Sir, they are all quite ridiculous."

"No, they are to ensure that you return to Baird unharmed. He will be quite angry if you prove him wrong." And Raoul right, Dom wanted to add.

"I will prove to you I am completely healed, my Lord," Kel informed him, "Completely back together and in one piece." She waited for his comment on her insolence but it never came.

"I will decide that for myself at the end of the trip if you are still alive. Now Dom has assured me that you are fit for the saddle." It was phrased as a question.

"Yes, my Lord."

"And you can wield a proper sword and not those scrawny wooden ones."

"Yes, my Lord."

"And you can-" Here, Kel had had enough and cut him off.

"I am perfectly capable," She bit out and then thought better of her tone and added, "My Lord."

Raoul looked her over and gave a curt nod before launching into a lecture on the various encampment sites he and Dom had discussed. Kel sneaked a glance at Dom who looked like he was biting the inside of his mouth to keep from saying something stupid. When she finally managed to catch his eye, he let out a sigh and turned his horse out of the line to find a new spot.

Raoul looked up, surprised.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, watching as Dom maneuvered his horse in beside Didion and Darien.

"No, my Lord. Perhaps he had something on his mind." Kel wasn't entirely sure, but she could guess it had to do with restraint and following rules. She had a bet with Dom about who could hold out the longest.

At this rate, she would be the easy winner.

* * *

They made camp that night in the woods on the outskirts of Fox Hollow Ridge, the town that bordered the Port Legann and Springrunners Creek lands. The border of Pirates' Swoop lay less than a hundred miles north. They would bed down for the night and enter Port Legann in the morning. The lord of seaside fief had requested that his own soldiers join the Own and Raoul had welcomed the extra, seasoned men. The weather had held out and although the cold was fierce, the sky was free of clouds and the threat of snow.

The recruits had shouldered the burden of setting up tents and building up the campfire. The horses had been watered and fed, the supper started and the wagons cloaked with magic by the time the first stars could be seen in the black sky. Raoul had banned Kel from the watch until further notice so she busied herself with helping Darien and Heylen boil water for tea, mix the soup and warm the break enough to eat without breaking a tooth. Heylen had scrounged up dumplings from somewhere and Darien had added rabbit to the soup. Kel had taken up the task of pouring tea into the waiting cups of men seated around the fire. When she reached Dom, she paused long enough for him to satisfy himself that she was fine, before continuing on with her serving.

After polishing off her bowl of soup and somewhat stale bread, Kel dumped out the remainder of her tea into the snow and made her way to the tub of water next to the fire where two of the recruits were washing dishes. Delivering her burdens to them, she turned to wave goodnight to the men and Raoul before ducking into her tiny tent.

Whoever had set up her tent had made sure that it was close enough to the fire to catch the shadows of the men against the flames, allowing a diffused light to illuminate the outline of her belongings. Slipping off her boots and jacket, Kel unbuckled her belt and left her sword lying within arms reach of her pillow. Sliding between the quilts of her bedroll, she blew out the lantern that she had brought with her. Despite knowing better, she waited and listened as the men abandoned the fire for their own beds. At last, someone doused the flames to burning embers and crunched through the snow to their respective tent. When it became obvious that Dom was holding out, Kel pulled the blankets over her head and let sleep take her.

* * *

Third Company spent their second night within the inner keep of Port Legann. At sunrise, they gathered Lord Imrah's men and set out for the cliffs ranging north-west up the coast between Legann and the Swoop. The men of Legann had convened with Raoul the night before to mark out known nesting positions and numbers. An estimated twenty-five of the immortal beings, ranging in size and strength, were inhabiting the ten mile stretch of rocky coast. Fishermen and villagers had suffered through a winter of very little trade as the attacks and risks from the vicious, winged creatures rose.

Kel went through her mental checklist of supplies and weapons as they approached the first village. Although rooms would be close to sparse, the villages had all sent word that the main meeting halls of the town would be emptied to accompany the numbers of soldiers. They had left behind everything but the essentials, relying on the villagers to help if supplies ran out. Kel doubled checked the number of arrows in the quiver across Peachblossom's haunches and then absently gripped the hilt of her sword.

"Forget something?" Dom asked lightly, his horse sliding into step beside Kel. His dull steel mail glinted in the sunlight, blending in with the silver braiding of his cloak. Kel shook her head and dropped the hood of her own cloak back.

"Just double checking. I feel out of practice." She offered him a smile that he returned, albeit tightly.

"You're fine. You've had a sword in your hand everyday since midwinter and we've spent hours in the practice courts. Even Raoul admitted your pretty much back to perfect." His eyes watched her profile as she continued to watch the road ahead. When he didn't continue, she looked at him, unsure about the expression on his face. "Gods, I wish I could touch you," he whispered harshly.

"I could fall off my horse," Kel offered wickedly and Dom swore. "No? Shame. I'm beginning to consider whether the wager is really worth it. All these rules and restraints…." Her voice trailed off and she chuckled maliciously as Dom began clenching and unclenching his hands on the reins.

"You, my Lady, are extremely good at knowing where to push," he told her. A call from the front interrupted the rest of his thoughts.

Kel grinned and brought Peachblossom to a stop within the village walls as Dom rode ahead to meet with Raoul. It was a good thing, she thought, that they would be housed in separate buildings that night.


	17. Chapter 17

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Chapter 17**

On their fifth day at the coast and their third day of hunting, Kel approached the four-by-four foot piece of slate outside Raoul's tent and picked up a piece of chalk from the ground while the seven men in her squad cheered her on. Grinning, she added six more lines to the running tally of hurrok kills beneath the squad name of 'Kel's Boys'. Dom and Wolset had turned the hunt into a competition after the first morning at the cliffs and Kel's group had been in the lead ever since. Turning around, she bowed to her men's applause while the other soldiers seated around the fire scowled good naturedly.

"That's not very chivalrous, Lady Knight." Kel turned and cocked an eyebrow at the weary voice of Heylen Pendaren. The younger man sported mud and sea salt in his windblown hair and a scratch down the left side of his face. "You're supposed to leave some for the rest of us."

"Keladry, are you not sharing again?" Roul's hearty voice rang out across the camp as he and his squad entered the circle of tents. Approaching the makeshift scoreboard, he nodded his approval. "Nice work."

"We helped, my Lord," piped up Mattea Shipson from the crowd and Raoul smirked.

"Of course, you did. And how many did the Lady Knight take on alone?" The crowd was silent before Kel dared look at her former knightmaster. "Two? Three?"

"Five." Kel's whisper was carried on the wind as Raoul stared at her.

"Five? I think I'm beginning to become as deaf at Tirrsmont's grandfather," Raoul replied deadpan.

"No, sir. It was five." Raoul chuckled at Diamuid's insistant tone. "It would have been only four but Tallen wasn't paying attention." The younger boy turned beet red as his faults were announced to the entire camp. Kel offered him a sympathetic smile.

"When I told Wolset to divide the recruits evenly, how is it that you have three of them?" Raoul asked Kel who shrugged.

"I didn't mind," Kel told him, stripping off her gloves and absently massaging the joints of her mended hand. Raoul's eyes followed her movement but didn't say anything. "We burned the nests and carcasses and I noted the spot on the map. If Dom's group was successful than that finishes this site and we can move on," she added.

"And so home comes closer than death," Raoul quoted absently.

Kel grinned and walked towards her tent, listening as the commander ordered the squad that was currently losing to start dinner.

* * *

Dom's group arrived back at camp just dinner was being dished out of the large cookpot over the fire pit. Kel looked up from her stew as the group quietly entered the circle, leaving weapons in their tents before returning to the open seats around the fire. Her eyes traveled over each man as she looked for injuries or hints of why it had taken them so long to return.

The first men she inspected sported nothing more than weary expressions and dirt. She watched as their comrades handed them mugs of tea and bowls of stew with fresh baked dumplings. Darien walked with a noticeable limp and Fabien's left arm was already in a sling. One of the Legann men, she didn't know his name, had a quickly blackening eye that Kel saw once he stepped into the light of the flames. Looking towards Raoul, she saw that Dom had his back to her.

She had almost let herself relax, assured that he was fine, when he turned away from the commander and flicked his eyes over everyone. When they met hers, Kel knew immediately that something was wrong. Her thought was confirmed when he waved away the food offered by Eilein Spinner and left for his tent. Standing to follow him, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder to keep her in her place.

"Give him a moment, my Lady," Wolset suggested when Kel turned to look at him. "Besides, I think my Lord is about to inform us of the situation."

Raoul had indeed stepped into the center of the circle and raised a hand for the company's attention. Kel set aside her bowl and finished her tea. When the group had quieted, Raoul cracked his knuckles.

"Dom's group had a situation this afternoon. It has been dealt with but we both feel it necessary to warn the other groups of the possibility of it rising again." Kel rolled her eyes at Raoul's dramatics and silently urged him to spit it out. "They found spidrens at the base of cliffs where the fishermen hide their rowboats among the rocks during the storms. They found the webbing and followed it to a widened crevice where they dispatched two of the beasts. From now on, watch for them." There was a murmur of agreement. "Good, when you're ready, would one of the healers see to Darien and Fabien?"

When he finished, Kel stood and went to exchange her empty dishes for ones heaped with food. Stepping outside the circle of men, she made her way quietly towards Dom's tent. Passing Raoul, he paused for a moment and leaned down so no one would hear.

"If he needs a healer, summon me." She nodded without words and kept going.

Reaching the tent, she tapped twice on the canvas and called his name, grateful that his was on the outer edges of the group and did not share with another of the Own. Hearing Dom's soft reply, Kel undid the flap and slipped inside.

"I brought you dinner, if you want it," she told him. Handing him the bowl, spoon and mug of cider, knowing he wouldn't drink the tea, she watched him eat the first few mouthfuls before taking a seat behind him.

"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to maintain a light tone but stiffening as her fingers began rolling up the back of his tunic and shirt.

"Looking for injuries," she replied. Pulling the burning lantern closer, she let her fingers dance across his back and towards his shoulders. "You're not in here because you found spidrens. You're in here because you knew I would notice. We can do this the easy way or the complicated way, but I'll find it." Dom bit his cheek to keep from letting her know how much he was enjoying the complicated way.

Her fingers hit a tender spot and he flinched.

"Told you," she muttered triumphantly as he sighed and let her pull his shirt over his head to inspect his shoulder and upper arm. In the flickering light she could see the red criss-crossed lines. "Whose shirt are you wearing?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dom insisted, setting aside the dishes and trying to turn around.

"You got tangled in the spidrens' web and it burned through your shirt and into your skin." Dom shrugged and then winced as she probed his wrist. "It doesn't matter. Where's that bruise balm I gave you for midwinter?"

"In my bags," he answered, defeated. He winced again as she rubbed it into the burns on his shoulder and the ones across his wrist. When she finished, she capped the bottle and tossed it on top of his bags.

"I don't understand why you have to be so difficult," she told him softly, letting her fingers trail along his shoulders until her arms were looped around his neck. He chuckled and she felt the vibrations against her arms.

"Coming from you? That's calling the kettle black, isn't it? Don't think I didn't notice the fact that your fingers are clumsy and that you sat with your back against the camp stool instead of sitting on it." Dom grasped her bad hand, now free of the splint, in both of his and examined her hand.

"It's fine," she told him but she withdrew her arms and settled her hands in her lap.

Dom turned so he was facing her and reached for her hand again. She let him take it. His uncle had told her that it would be prone to muscle cramps and joint aches during the colder months along with taking extra time to rebuild its original strength. It came as no surprise that it would bother her after spending a week outside with a sword or bow constantly in her hand. Using both hands, he massaged it gently.

"Have you been wrapping it?" he asked and she shook her head.

"I can't draw the crossbow string back with it on." He had known that.

"And your back?" he asked quietly.

"I'm just stiff from the saddle and sleeping on the ground. It's nothing," Kel told him. "I need to go before someone notices you're talking to yourself in your tent." Withdrawing her hand, she stood and pointed to his bedroll. "Get some sleep, soldier. We have more hurroks to chase tomorrow."

Ignoring her, he stood and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Shushing her in her ear, he buried his face in her hair and neck. Kel relaxed into him for a moment before he let her go.

"That's all you get for now, Captain," she said impishly before stepping out into the night and heading for her tent.

* * *

Three days later Kel's Boys marked another five kills on the slate, bringing their final tally to sixteen. Although Raoul had consented to adding extra points to Dom's group for finding spidrens, it wasn't enough to win and the recruits under Kel's command refused to let them forget it. As Dom and Wolset counted coins into the Lady Knight's outstretched hand, the rest of the group began to break camp.

It would be a three day ride back to Corus and that thought was forever at the front of Kel's mind. As she latched her saddlebags to her horse and repacked her tent, she continued to steal glances at Dom as he inspected and re-inspected gear and tack on all the men and their mounts.

Once everyone had mounted up, Kel took her position between Raoul and Dom. Riding in silence, she had time to think about more than what it meant to be going home. She and Dom had been successful in keeping secrets from men they saw everyday. If they could hide their feelings among the Own, then could they not hide them from the court and New Hope? The idea appealed to her in a selfish way. With no one the wiser, they could travel together all the time. She could request Third Company at the refugee camp. They could take the evening watch positions together.

They could ride together unsupervised.

Now that was appealing, she thought.

Beyond that there would be no gossip. No mutters and whispers of propriety. No betrothal contracts and guidelines. No pressure from their families regarding dowries and benefits. If no one knew, they could just be themselves; the way they were right now.

She looked to her right and saw Dom watching her. Offering him a smile, she stepped her horse closer. Seeing that Raoul was absorbed in a conversation with the captain of the Legann men, Kel tilted her head closer to Dom.

"You're thinking about home," he said quietly and she nodded.

"I'm thinking about our freedom," and then she added, "I think we should wait."

"You're just thinking of ways to coax Raoul into sending us to New Hope," Dom teased lightly. He agreed that he liked the flexibility that secrecy afforded them.

"Oh, he's already seen to that. He told your uncle if I was going back to the front then I was doing so with a properly skilled babysitter. I believe you fit that description."

"I'm thoroughly undervalued," came Dom's sarcastic reply.

Kel didn't answer though, because her own words were ringing in her head.

She had proven herself healthy.

They would send her back.

* * *

**_AN: So another two chapters up. There is one chapter left plus the epilogue. I want 20 chapters exactly so I broke chp 16 and chp17 into two so it would work. They are a little uneventful but I hope they show that things are back to normal on the outside while on the inside Kel and Dom are bringing out different parts of each other that no one else gets to see. Now my word program was acting all insane so if you notice any issues with spelling or words or something, tell me because I used a recovered version so there may be mistakes I missed. _**

**_-Jez!_**


	18. Chapter 18

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Chapter 18**

To Kel, everything was different and everything was the same. The walls still stood strong, but scars had been carved by battle axes in the lower regions. The long buildings, shared by refugees, reflected the sun off of fresh paint and the tar from the roof permeated the air, but new homes had been erected outside the safety zone and small plots of land appeared to be newly ploughed and sowed. The flagpole remained standing and her device was still painted on the commanding officer's door, but there was a new well and the children that greeted her with flowers were a foot taller.

New Hope had continued to flourish and build without her.

And maybe that was for the better.

Her assignment was for six months. Enough time for the peace treaty to be signed by the Scanran delegation and for the threat in the area to dissolve. It was enough time, Wyldon had explained to her, to establish a town council and plan supply delivery. It was enough time to plot new properties and build homes, attract a permanent healer and reintroduce the surrounding land back into the clutches of the noble family it had been taken from years before when Kel had been a green knight with her first assignment. It was enough time, Dom had later assured her, to extricate her heart from the land and its people and let them prove their independence. Their strength.

Villagers still argued over property and haggled over prices.

Kel's set of rooms and offices was still sheltered from plain view and the door still had a lock on it.

Her desk and bed were in the same place but the desk was void of papers as would be expected after being unused for six months. Her books were still in order on the bookshelf above the desk and the quilt and bedding had been sent back from Steadfast when things had settled. Merric had left Griffin sheathed and shining on her bed, its hilt repaired and the blade sharp. Her helmet, the chin strap replaced, sat unneeded on a chair in the corner. When he had heard that she had new armour, Merric had told her to never mind, but she had insisted on keeping it as a reminder. A sacrifice. Another scar to add to her collection.

Dom was a new addition to the room.

New, different, but not unexpected.

Shutting the door on the black night, he pushed back the dark hood of his cloak that had shielded his identity from anyone who couldn't recognize his gait. Kel watched his sapphire eyes sweep across the room, taking in the differences from before, and let her eyes roam the lighted planes of his face. When he turned back to her, there was a heartbeat before he closed the gap between them. Their fingers fumbled with the clasp of his cloak as he struggled to rid himself of it, letting it fall to the ground when they gained success. Her fingers found the buckle to the belt that cinched his tunic while his were already at the fine ties that held her overgown closed over her night clothes.

She didn't remember him bending to pull off his boots but somehow they made it into a corner.

He didn't know where the pins in her hair were hidden but suddenly her locks were tumbling into her eyes.

Pushing his fingers against the tresses, Dom gripped her waist and hoisted her onto the corner of her desk, the light of the fire highlighting the contours of his muscled back. Her fingers dug into the heat of his skin, while his tangled and pulled at her hair. Raoul may have assigned Third Company to New Hope, but he had no control over the appearance of flesh-eating unicorns in the southern forest that had to be dealt with before the Own could follow to newly reinstated commander to New Hope. He had no control or knowledge of the six day separation between his captain and his lady knight.

Dom did.

Kel did.

She kicked her slippers of before resting her feet on his hips as she tilted her head into his searing kiss. Her toes curled into the soft flesh and his breath hitched, lips traveling to her neck and shoulders. Her hands regained their knowledge of his chest as they slid over it, skin slick with sweat as the fire died and their passion flared. In the darkness of her rooms, Kel lost herself in the person who had become the other half of her.

Some things had changed in her absence and others had remained the same.

Dom fell somewhere in the middle.

The villagers whispered about the way he watched their Lady. The gossiped about the changes in Kel. Some said it was a wake-up call; the aftermath of nearly dying in the name of war. Others believed it was the result of a well-deserved break and rest. Some joked that it was something else, but there was no proof to support it and no one dared speak it in Kel's presence. They continued their daily activities, consulted Lady Kel and asked after Sir Neal who had taken a few weeks of leave at his home fief before returning to train the recruited midwife and healer.

For them, nothing had changed.

Things simply went back to the routine.

In her room, entwined around Dom's limbs and breathing in his scent of cinnamon that one day she would remember to ask about, Kel welcomed the change. Calloused fingers traced the well defined, purple scar that faded little since November, gently moving across her shoulder blade to her spine and then in a lightening hot move drew a perfect line to the mass of scars at the base of her back. His palm could cover it if he wished, but he had told her countless times that he liked seeing it. The part of her that brought them together.

She curled into his embrace, his hands resting around her hips and settling against her hips that were visible through the thin material of her nightgown. His lips grazed the sensitive spot at the back of her neck and she shivered. His whispers barely registered as she tried to keep from spinning in his arms and abandoning sleep for the second time that night.

Sleep came eventually.

All things do.

* * *

The mess hall was busy as Kel sat near the back, scanning the watch rotation for the week. Early spring planting had caused the soldiers to take on more shifts, allowing the farmers to work long days and collapse at night. Her breath remained even as a familiar body slid in beside her, plucking the pencil from her hand and replacing it with a muffin that she didn't hesitate to bite into.

"Duty calls?" Dom asked, leaning over her shoulder.

"Duty was interrupted last night," she reminded him, brushing away the hand that had found her thigh under the table. "I'm making up for it."

"I'm leaving in a half-bell to take a group out to scout the woods. I heard the little ones mention bears in the area," he informed her, setting the jokes aside for a moment.

"Yeah, we've been seeing them but nothing more than a glimpse. I don't want any of the children outside the gates until we know," she told him, pushing the schedule aside and revealing a map underneath. Her finger moved as they discussed possible den areas for the animals.

"Tonight, you have the midnight watch?" he asked quietly in her ear and she nodded. "With who?"

"Darien," she replied, licking her lips and trying maintain a facade of professionalism to those watching.

"I'll see that he has the night off," he said.

"We actually have to be on guard, Dom," she chastised gently, feeling torn between the consequences of their relationship and their wants.

"We will," he replied, rising from his seat. "Sometimes, it nice just to sit and remind each other that their not alone."

He left her then, with her head bent and a warm smile tugging at her lips as she refused to watch him leave the building. Rubbing Darien's name from the slate, she quickly added Dom's in his place before turning to the next plan of action on her list of things to do.

* * *

The night was silent as the two leaned against the wooden bulwarks of the fort, scanning the woods and roads for flickers of light or a presence of sound against the quiet. It reminded Dom of a night back in October when he had listened to the urgent undertones of Kel's words as she talked about death. The wind was warmer, but as she gazed into the distance where the past had taught them to always suspect danger, Dom contemplated the changes between that night and this one.

He had been terrified to lose her.

He had been terrified to tell her how he felt.

It seemed like ages ago, seeing how long it had taken for them to return to this place where the outside world was always so far away, but he still watched her with the same look of awe. The moon, half veiled in clouds, lit her cheeks and glinted on the long eyelashes. Her mail was dull and rustled slightly as she shifted position, stepping closer to him as the men below disappeared to check the other side of the fort.

"If we went to war again tomorrow, what would you say?" Kel asked quietly and Dom knew she had been thinking the same as he.

"Nothing you don't already know," he told her, looking down before back to the blackness beneath them. "I won't leave without telling you again."

"Then it wasn't for nothing," she answered in a low voice, making certain that no echoes could be heard.

"It's never for nothing. There's always a reason even if we don't see it immediately."

The silence returned as the night stretched on but as Dom savoured the rare moment of solitude with her, he kept returning to that day on the field when he had thought he would live to regret no telling her before battle. He still regretted it, but he knew that on some level, it hadn't needed to be said.


	19. Chapter 19

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Chapter 19**

The March snow was trampled under the hooves of the arriving men from Corus. Their leader, his cloak thrown over one shoulder and revealing the dully polished armour underneath, raised a hand to his forehead to block out the sun as he squinted at the blackened outline of New Hope atop the hill. He had expected to see the flag with the owl device and crossed glaives, surrounded by a distaff border, but it still brought a smile to his face to see the sign of the Lady Knight's return to active duty. Raising a hand to signal his party's continuation along the road, Sir Nealan of Queenscove kept a reign on his horse and his excitement.

The gates were thrown open and a trumpet sounded as the healer returned to the fort and its villagers. His short reprieve at his home fief with his wife to be had been cut short, albeit with good purpose, when he was assigned to train New Hope's new healer for the day to come when all the knights were pulled back to Corus and their king. Sliding from his horse's back, Neal surveyed the welcoming crowd with shrewd eyes, searching for the person he hadn't seen in months. It was Mistress Fanche, always the knowing one, who gave him a smirk and jerked her head towards the back gates.

"If ye be looking for her Ladyship, she went into the offices with yon Captain of the Own to plan the excursion next week to Steadfast," she told him, wiping her hands on her apron. "They have been at 'er all morning."

"Then she's back to her usual self," Neal observed, watching the woman weigh the question.

"She was her usual self when she arrived last month," she replied, "We wouldn't have been the wiser if not for yer warnings. The only difference is that she appears to have been lightened."

Neal raised an eyebrow before crossing the courtyard to the solid building in the far corner. He was intercepted twice by men of the Own he hadn't seen since Autumn and by the children welcoming him back. Stripping his gloves from his hands as he walked, Neal knocked lightly on the door and pushed it open to reveal the scribes at work on lists and appeals and reports to the King and the local nobility. They scrambled to their feet to bow before Neal absently waved them back to work, climbing the stairs to the second story of the administration building. Reaching the door with her device painted on in dark stain, he tried the door to find it locked.

"Kel?" he called in a light voice. "You've neglected to meet your favourite person in the courtyard. I need to make your acquaintance before finding my beloved cousin and making up for almost five months of torture."

On the other side of the door, Kel cursed.

* * *

Kel had been brought up under the harsh restrictions of the female nobility, both at the Tortallan court and the one on the Yamani Isles, and she knew what the price of jumping into bed with Dom was when they had first taken that step. Since then, she had come to appreciate the rare moments when those around them were distracted enough to let it happen without questions or suspicions. After discussing various minute details with the scribes on the main floors, Dom had followed Kel upstairs to review a letter from Lord Raoul.

The letter itself had been read and discussed and tossed aside within the first five minutes of entering her chambers. The following twenty minutes had witnessed the removal of various items of clothing, followed by various struggles of passion in various forms. Kel, her boots across the room and her shirt unlaced down to her breastband, held Dom's belt in one hand when a heavy hand pounded against the door.

"Ignore it," Dom insisted, his lips pressing under her jaw and down her neck. Nodding, Kel dropped the accessory and wound her hands around his neck to grasp the hair falling over his collar.

"Kel!" Neal's voice called through the door and the two figures froze.

Kel cursed.

Dom became immobile, his hands gripping tightly to her hips.

"Gods above," he hissed, his face pressed to her collar bone. "He's early."

"Don't say a word," she whispered, her heart hammering in her chest as her sweaty palms rested against Dom's bare chest. "Where's your shirt?"

Neal's voice came again, followed by another knock. Taking two steps away from the door, Kel glanced at the ground beneath her window. Scanning the back alley of the building, she couldn't glimpse anyone running errands below. Children laughed but she decided they were around the side. Plucking Dom's shirt off the back of a chair, and his belt from the floor, and his cloak from her bed, she tossed them in his direction as she hastily laced the ties on her shirt. Retrieving her boots, she stumbled once and Neal heard her.

"One moment," she called, waving frantically at a fully clothed Dom. "The window," she hissed, pointing to the rooftop that jutted out to the right of the sill. "Be careful."

Letting him kiss her roughly, she watched as he slithered to the ground like a cat before running a hand through her hair and straightening her clothes. Taking noisy steps to the door, she hauled it open to see an irritated Neal glaring at her, his clothes reeking of horse sweat and dirt of the road.

"Finally," he growled, stepping inside.

"I was sleeping," she retorted, taking a quick glance at the bed, and seeing it was sufficiently mussed, back at him.

"The scribes said you and Dom were up here going over orders," he told her, raising an eyebrow at her before glancing towards the letter and seal tossed on the desk.

"We were, but he left shortly afterwards. The issue was quickly discussed," she felt the lie slip through her lips with practice. "My Lord wishes to have a time frame for our extrication from this camp so he can sort through orders and have an assignment for me by that time."

"You mentioned the wedding in early summer, didn't you?" Neal asked, his eyes picking up on the elegant rice paper stationary that Yuki had ordered from the isles for their wedding announcements.

"Of course. I will officially end my command here the week before and then travel to Queenscove for your temple vows. The following week Raoul is assigning myself and Third Company to Corus for the Yamani delegation that is occurring for the expected birth of the Prince and Princess's first child," Kel assured her friend.

The party would arrive to celebrate the marriage of one of their noble family's most respected daughters to the heir of Queenscove and then remain into the fall for the birth of Roald and Shinko's child in the late weeks of summer. As a way to offer the knights and soldiers at New Hope a version of vacation, and to get out of doing it himself, Raoul had decided to make Third Company the decorated honour guard for the delegation. He also hoped that Kel would efficiently train them in proper etiquette in time.

"Good," Neal sighed, flopping on the bed, "Yuki would kill you if you missed out on either event."

"Yes, of course," Kel replied, absently thinking how lucky it was that what Raoul referred to as 'teamwork' between herself and the Own was actually helping her and Dom remain discreet and together.

"You seem distracted," Neal mused, his eyes shifting over the other items on her desk and settling on a small wooden box that's top was carved with her initials.

Seeing her back was to him as she folded linens that one of the women had washed and laundered, Neal used his finger to flip open the lid. The sturdy silver chain was wrought in a design that looked similar to the designs worked by the southern jewellers in Tortall. The deep blue stone was set deep into the silver pendent that hung from it and Neal found its color an extreme likeness to that worn by the Own. Shrugging, he closed the lid as she turned around, telling himself to ask Dom if someone was seeking her attention.

"There's a lot going on," she assured him, a tight smile on her lips. "I do have rounds to do though, so I will see you at supper in the hall."

It was an obvious dismissal, one that Neal couldn't have missed. Nodding, he strode to the door and waited on the landing for Kel to lock it behind them and follow him down the stairs. At the bottom, she swept past the scribes and breezed to the open village square that was being paved with carefully cut stones. Giving him a quick, one armed hug, Kel left him to attend to business. It wasn't until he had gone in search of his belongings that Neal realized that her business had taken her in the direction of the Own.

Shrugging, he remembered that he had yet to greet his cousin and took off in a similar direction.

* * *

Neal wasn't sure what it was about New Hope, but something was different.

It wasn't that Kel was back or that Third Company was more friendly and entertaining than the camp's previous company. It wasn't the buzz regarding the village's change in status or the increased number of merchants that visited. It was something else, Neal decided as he did his rounds of the healing building's supply cabinets. He knew what it wasn't, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

Kel told him he was going loopy.

Dom assured him that it was all in his head.

Neal was positive that he was just the only observant one. Kel and Dom, along with everyone else, just chalked it up to the change in atmosphere or the beginning of spring or the news arriving daily from Corus. Neal blamed the fact that the two were just extremely busy. Merric had never been reassigned to New Hope after his reprieve during the winter months and his duties fell to Dom and Kel to discuss and divide among each other or civilians. It was frequent that Neal found Kel in her rooms, paperwork spread over her desk and a look that she hated his interuption of her work. Dom was hard to find most of the time, taking it upon himself to scout beyond the perimeters of the area. Neal constantly found himself searching every buiding inside the walls and coming up empty.

Sometimes the thought crossed his mind that his cousin and friend were avoiding him, but he continued to brush it off.

Once, he thought he heard Dom in Kel's room when he was supposed to be out riding, but when the lady knight answered her door, she seemed shocked at such a mention from Neal.

So Neal continued to wander around the thriving community, watching men train in defences and women gossip as they did laundry at the well and children copy the movements of the Own during morning practice, all the while trying to decide what it was that made his feel cloaked in secrets. As if the obvious was in front of him but he and everyone else were too blind to notice.


	20. Chapter 20

**Unsaid Promises**

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

**Chapter 20**

The room was elegantly decorated, the firelight glinting off the gilt trim and reflecting in the oval mirror placed over the dressing table. The heavy brocade curtains were pushed open to emit the view of the starry night and a light breeze floated in through the balcony doors that had been left hanging open. The moon traced a path across the floor, coating the tasteful rug and snaking its way up the bed to illuminate the two figures entwined among the blankets.

Voices echoed along the corridors outside the room while drunken laughter wafted up from the gardens and ponds below as revellers stumbled across the courtyards to their rooms or towards the main hall where the Lord and Lady of Queenscove entertained their new daughter-in-law's foreign guests. The scent of jasmine and orchids perfumed the air, having seeped into the clothes of the lovers on the bed during their appearance at the wedding earlier in the evening.

Unlike other events the two had attended in the preceding months, they had remained at this one until the early hours of the morning instead of sneaking off. Drinking, eating and celebrating, they had danced and chatted and flirted discreetly under the oblivious eyes of their friends and colleagues until the bride and groom had retired to the bridal chamber. There had been several dances and glasses of wine after that moment before both had signalled each other from opposite ends of the room and placed their empty goblets in the hands of trained pages before bowing their graciousness to the hosts and fleeing to the privacy of the chamber in the west wing.

Over and over, as Dom struggled to pull apart the laces of her corset and she fumbled with the elegant braiding that crossed over the chest of his uniform, Kel told him how much she loved the fact that he knew every passageway in the castle. Since their arrival at his uncle's dukedom, Dom had managed to ferret his way into her room each night with no one the wiser. Although people noticed his absence from his own rooms, his reputation had the staff and nobility gossiping about which maid had caught his attention this time. Kel didn't care as his hands wrapped around her waist and his lips met hers in a burst of fire and desperation. The wedding forgotten, Kel succumbed to his desires as they equalled hers.

Hours later, as the voices around them receded and guests stumbled to their beds just as the morning staff rose to begin cooking for the day, Kel ran a finger down Dom's cheek and causing him to smile while his eyes remained shut. With her head resting in her hand that was propped on his chest, she shivered as his fingers blindly traced designs on her back.

"Do wonder what it will be like for us?" she asked quietly, watching his face.

"What do you mean?" he inquired, his eyes cracking open to search hers, his hand pushing hair away from her face.

"Will we marry? Will we receive the kind of honours that Neal and Yuki have or will we be shunned and gossiped about? Will you wait and retire or will one of us die in the field before our friends even know? Will someone find me crying over your grave and wonder how they missed it?" Dom held a finger to her lips to quiet the stream of frantic questions.

"Those are a lot of what ifs, Love. How about this one? What if I am madly in love with you and when the time is right and we can legally do so, I will offer you my heart in front of the Goddess's priestess and anyone we care about?" he saw her eyes widen and then the smile press against his finger that he had yet to remove.

"Sometimes, I wonder if we should tell Neal," she confessed, resting her head over his heart and listening to its steady rhythm as her finger combed her hair. "Each time I almost let it slip, I think of all the freedom we have and I stop myself."

"Me too," he told her, his motions stopping as she lifted her head and tossed her hair back.

"Do you think we made the right choice? I know it's selfish, and lying but I would still choose it again and again if given the choice," she whispered, her dark eyes pools of black in the pale light of dawn.

"We chose our path, Kel," he said softly, "there will be consequences but everything does. Did we make the right choice? It was right for us and in this situation, we are all that matters. So, yes, I would choose it over and over again as well."

Nodding, she dropped a lingering kiss on his lips. Letting his hands slide up the sides of her body until they cupped her face, he returned the affection, pouring his love into the motion as her hands slipped from his shoulders and pressed against the mattress of the bed the Lady of Queenscove had given her for the duration of her stay. Rolling so that he lay on top of her, Dom's hands roamed as they followed the familiar contours of her body.

"What will you tell Neal when he asks which of his mother's house servants found you in her bed?" Kel asked in a teasing voice that held no jealousy but only amusement.

"That only one person holds my heart and she is far more enchanting than a kitchen maid," Dom murmured against her collar bone as she arched in pleasure.

"My heart is all yours," she assured him, meeting his eyes.

"You've had mine for years," he told her, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Words ended as actions took over, both parties pushing thought of consequences and secrets and lies to the back of their minds and focusing on the precious moments remaining before returning the charade they had constructed.

* * *

_AN: So it's finished. Completed. The final chapters took awhile but for those who remained patient, thanks for hanging on for them. I had a lot of fun writing this story, the ending just got sidetracked by school and original pieces on FP. It may be awhile before I post anything on this account because I think the next time I do, I'll write most of it ahead of time. If you're looking for anything, Savannah O'Ryan, my editing genius for spellcheck, has some wicked pieces going right now (_The Definition of Us _and_ Between You & Me_). If you want to see what I've been up to, check out my fiction press account. Thanks for all your support._

_-Jez_


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